110 Years from Pathé…Zoom – It’s InTALKsicating!
Since entering the Zoom world in April this year, I began to format and share my learnings from webinars, interviews and town hall meetings, much the way Charles Pathé the man who created the Newsreel format did around 1910. For well over fifty years, newsreel films came before a featured film in local cinemas, an omnibus of current affairs, information and even propaganda. Over the last two months, the Zooming has continued with an eclectic mix of topics and presentations including for me, the arts world.
Starting with two highlights from October’s weekly Global Town Hall sessions from the International Federation on Ageing (IFA) where the focus is on the COVID-19 Global Effects on Older People.
It is great to be part of what has become (as Secretary General, Jane Barratt says) almost a family affair every Friday.
We have been gifted hearing international perspectives from people in the field of aging and longevity, with their on the ground stories from different countries, and how they have met the COVID experience. It has been a set of comparative studies, to learn of commonalities and differences.
On October 9, Dr. Emem Omokaro, Executive Director, Dave Omokaro Foundation in Nigeria reminded us of the fact that Africa is demographically a much younger continent and typically up to now public policies have been directed to the well being of children, with deficits in the protection of older persons. Yet there are about 74 million older persons in Africa. In proportion, that is a total of about double the size of Canada’s entire population.
With deficits in health and social care across the continent, where for example travel time in Nigeria to visit a doctor can take up to two hours, local neighbourhoods also rely on caregiving for children coming from older women, grandmothers often. In sub-Saharan Africa, family self-reliance is strong and the striking take away message for us in the western world from Omokaro is one about sacrificing, sharing and community support.
In contrast, (though with some similarity with respect to community support), On Oct. 16, Thelma Kay, former Senior Advisor on Ageing Issues, Ministry of Social & Family Development – Singapore, clearly presented the cultural differences between how Singapore and other Asian countries compared to western countries have approached the pandemic response on a social level. Kay spoke to a number of aspects but the theme of citizen responsibility in these times resonated most for me.
Even prior to COVID, Singapore had set up what Kay identified as Silver Generation (SG) Ambassadors a multi-generational initiative to support those older people who may be socially isolated. In addition, Singapore has a senior worker support package among other supports for re-skilling and job redesign. This was music to my ears considering my previous work in career development consulting with a specific focus on later life career options.
Sometimes it isn’t what the presenter says that stands out, but what others on a Zoom-line say as I think it was someone from Australia who said in response to the term “the new normal” in a COVID world, that what we should be talking about is finding a “new life model”. Perhaps we can learn from some Singapore models as per one reference – the Agency for Integrated Care Befriending Service and Neighbourhood Links.
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For a change of scene as I wrap up, switching topic reels from Zoomland to the Online Viewing Room of Art Basel, one event I enjoyed was back in September where host Jan Dalley interviewed four artists from around the world talking about their creativity curve in a COVID world as it were. The discussion about mental health came up as well as social isolation, which we have spent much time focusing on as an issue for both younger and older persons.
Artist Ryan Gander, based in London, UK showed some of his new work and reflected on the time he spent creating while he asked himself the question, “If you only had five days to live, would you spend it on Instagram?” Well that is a point to muse on considering that so many artists are using Instagram to showcase their work, even more so these days.
Ryan Gander: These are the markers of our time was his recent exhibition at the Lisson Gallery NYC.