Abstract
The article explores healthcare messages communicated by artistic expressions presented in video formats during the COVID-19 pandemic. The subtitle Hello (from the Inside) refers to an Adele parody created by the American singer and comedian Chris Mann in March 2020. By altering Adele’s title, Hello (from the Other Side) and lyrics, Mann voiced the isolation anxiety felt worldwide when the coronavirus rapidly spread across the globe and the quarantine forced us to stay away from social activities.
From the very start of the pandemic, music and other art expressions emerged in digital formats as an immediate response, created by individuals and groups to comment on the circumstances and reflect uncertainty. Parallel with Corona narratives and information about the increase in COVID-19 cases, news channels distributed a range of messages through art, especially music. Art institutions, performing ensembles, and solo performers streamed events, and home-based music and dance activities emerged on social media. Healthcare organizations and institutions joined in the trend and spread COVID-19 information online. Hospital employers appeared with health messages creatively communicated through art. People’s homes, institution interiors, hospital lobbies, and surgery rooms became stages for narration, singing, and dancing. When the world seemed to have paused, we gratefully received healthcare messages from the `inside´. The present article applies an interdisciplinary analytic approach to eight selected video clips that juxtapose artistic expressions and healthcare messages. It aims to shed light on how health messages and aesthetic expressions created during the first wave of the pandemic reflect an artistic conceptualization of COVID-19 knowledge and experiences.