Do You Want To Be My Quarantine?
Berlin, 2020
Interview with David Mallon (Souvenir Official) and Monty Richthofen (Maison Hefner)
How did the project and later collab »Do you want to be my quarantine?« happen? And why do you think it is important to initiate such a project?
Monty: It’s important to act collectively in situations like the corona crisis. To play back and forth ideas on how to contribute, give back something to our community and culture and spread positivity. We need to support each other more than ever. We need to build a strong cultural backbone, and help where we can. This was a natural urge for us. We both were looking for an opportunity to express ourselves with the aim to give back something to our culture.
David: For years young creatives always supported Souvenir Official, so it was clear for us to give something back now. This is a beginning, but we don’t plan to stop here. We have more ideas and projects coming up, putting focus on supporting culture during this crisis.
How does the lockdown and quarantine life affect you personally? And how do you think it affects others around the globe?
Monty: You are confronted with yourself and your intimate surroundings much more than you normally would be. Confined. Isolated. Ping-pong inside the four walls you define as home. But you’re not alone. You’re not the only one. We are all in this together and only together we can get out of it again. I see this time for us to reconnect not only to ourselves but to others.
Some sales from this first action will be donated to the project; “Club Quarantäne” can you explain a bit more what it is about?
Monty: Club Quarantäne is an initiative from Kristina Jahreis and myself to support artists living in Germany throughout the crisis. We need to support our culture’s backbone, now more than ever. Artists can apply online to an open call with their response towards the crisis. A jury examines the applications and presents online their selection of relevant artists and works.
The artist receives a financial support of 500€. After the assembly ban, the works of these artists will be exhibited in a festival. The sales directly support these artists as well.
Why is it important to support art / creatives / culture in a crisis like this?
Monty: Culture is the soul of our society. Imagine we would not be able to use music, film, literature and arts to get our mind off things in situations like these. Imagine all we could listen, watch or read would be about death and disease. I certainly would go mad.
David: Culture strengthens the resilience of our societies. It is our responsibility to protect and support the cultural ecosystem and creative people so that they can continue to create culture in these difficult times and in the future.
Any suggestions on how to support, for people who can’t donate money; because they themselves are in a situation. Is money donations the only option?
Monty: Certainly not. I think it’s most important to create an awareness for what artists, creatives are contributing to our society on a local and global scale. By sharing their work, supporting them with words of kindness you can already contribute a lot to a general motivation, towards their drive.
David: I think Mother Teresa nailed it pretty well when she said: »Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love«. At the same I was thinking that people can generate a spiral of love and support, outside of monetary donations and so on.
Do You Want To Be My Quarantine?
Berlin, 2020
Interview with David Mallon (Souvenir Official) and Monty Richthofen (Maison Hefner)
How did the project and later collab »Do you want to be my quarantine?« happen? And why do you think it is important to initiate such a project?
Monty: It’s important to act collectively in situations like the corona crisis. To play back and forth ideas on how to contribute, give back something to our community and culture and spread positivity. We need to support each other more than ever. We need to build a strong cultural backbone, and help where we can. This was a natural urge for us. We both were looking for an opportunity to express ourselves with the aim to give back something to our culture.
David: For years young creatives always supported Souvenir Official, so it was clear for us to give something back now. This is a beginning, but we don’t plan to stop here. We have more ideas and projects coming up, putting focus on supporting culture during this crisis.
How does the lockdown and quarantine life affect you personally? And how do you think it affects others around the globe?
Monty: You are confronted with yourself and your intimate surroundings much more than you normally would be. Confined. Isolated. Ping-pong inside the four walls you define as home. But you’re not alone. You’re not the only one. We are all in this together and only together we can get out of it again. I see this time for us to reconnect not only to ourselves but to others.
Some sales from this first action will be donated to the project; “Club Quarantäne” can you explain a bit more what it is about?
Monty: Club Quarantäne is an initiative from Kristina Jahreis and myself to support artists living in Germany throughout the crisis. We need to support our culture’s backbone, now more than ever. Artists can apply online to an open call with their response towards the crisis. A jury examines the applications and presents online their selection of relevant artists and works.
The artist receives a financial support of 500€. After the assembly ban, the works of these artists will be exhibited in a festival. The sales directly support these artists as well.
Why is it important to support art / creatives / culture in a crisis like this?
Monty: Culture is the soul of our society. Imagine we would not be able to use music, film, literature and arts to get our mind off things in situations like these. Imagine all we could listen, watch or read would be about death and disease. I certainly would go mad.
David: Culture strengthens the resilience of our societies. It is our responsibility to protect and support the cultural ecosystem and creative people so that they can continue to create culture in these difficult times and in the future.
Any suggestions on how to support, for people who can’t donate money; because they themselves are in a situation. Is money donations the only option?
Monty: Certainly not. I think it’s most important to create an awareness for what artists, creatives are contributing to our society on a local and global scale. By sharing their work, supporting them with words of kindness you can already contribute a lot to a general motivation, towards their drive.
David: I think Mother Teresa nailed it pretty well when she said: »Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love«. At the same I was thinking that people can generate a spiral of love and support, outside of monetary donations and so on.