Kaisa Tooming
Santino Calvo, the inspirational illustrator we talked with two years ago is back at our magazine illustrating the worldwide pandemic situation with his artwork and introspections. Santino has captured explicitly the moral, social and political hot topics of the world, issues that focus on social distancing, human rights, conspiracy theories, racism, xenophobia and many other important subjects that need attention. Indeed, using our voice and talent to highlight controversial discussions in society to transform the outdated systems is a necessity. So we thank you, Santino, for sharing your work and voice and hope you, our readers, will enjoy this illustration series as much as we do.
HOMEBODIES
Get it into your head: it turns out you can do plenty of things while you’re stuck at home. From catching up on that TV show to learning new kick-ass skills, the array of choices is just too vast to enumerate.
Now imagine being the master administrator of your own time and leisure, while also doing a great favor to the community by staying in during these troubled times. You’ll get double the satisfaction. So go ahead and DON’T LEAVE HOME, don’t miss out on all the new things you could experience while you have a chance to.
NAKED HEROES
Medical professionals in Italy are doing an outstanding job at shielding the Country from a despicable enemy. They don’t just work insanely long shifts, they also expose themselves to the risk of contracting COVID-19 on a daily basis. To make things worse, they’re currently experiencing a massive shortage of protective equipment to keep themselves safe and efficient at work. Short and sweet, if we run out of medical manpower, we run out of options to stand on our feet.
It all comes down to a very basic rule you’ve probably heard about a million times already: STAY AT HOME. Protect yourself, your loved ones, and above all – respect the only ones who might be able to save your life one day.
IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH
Despite social distancing rules, many religious groups all over the world continue to gather and attend functions, often sharing items such as spoons and chalices. Priests in Russia have defended their position by stating they were “simply expressing their religious freedom”. After Pope Francis celebrated his now worldwide famous mass in Rome all alone, it seems like more religious officials are finally encouraging social distancing.
NOT A COMPETITION
In a tragic, yet expected turn of events, the USA has surpassed China for the highest number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the world. Roughly half of Americans get health insurance through their employer, but the increasing number of layoffs may lead to loss of all medical care for millions of them.
Read more on this on The Guardian.
Despite the lack of any scientific proof that the 5G network might contribute to the spread of coronavirus, conspiracy theorists around the globe are having a field day, with some of them even setting mobile towers on fire. Because if “we don’t have a problem, let’s create one” is not 2020’s official slogan yet, it should definitely be soon.
More on this on The Economist.
SAME SAME, NOT DIFFERENT
I made this one after watching this beautiful video on Freeda.
It features a number of immigrant workers who ensure everyday life goes as smoothly as possible these days. One thing this pandemic has made really clear is that when troubled times occur, both racism and xenophobia become even more obsolete notions than usual.
Just before this virus struck hard, the world was busy between Brexits and nationalisms of many kinds. With people from all backgrounds now trying to help as best as they can, some reconsidering what our priorities really are may be necessary.
FACELESS/NAMELESS
If you were a prime minister in the middle of a pandemic, what would be one of the first measures you’d take to make things better?
Viktor Orbán, prime minister of Hungary, thought that ending legal gender recognition for transgender people could be an effective measure.
Because, goes without saying, limitation of fundamental human rights has long been known as a great measure to oust viruses.
AQUALUNG
Italian pride story: Isinnova, a company based in Brescia, is currently working on printing and applying 3D valves on common snorkeling masks. The intent is to try and compensate for the increasing shortages of ventilators in hospitals.
You can read more on their story on Futurism
TOILET WARS
In a desperate attempt to have their bums as clean as possible (?) in troubled times, humans all over the world have been hoarding toilet paper in their homes like crazy. These days, stockpiling (any kind of it) is definitely not a winning strategy. It deprives certain categories of people – including medical personnel – of goods they might need right away for urgent purposes. It creates other problems, too. Take toilet paper: since it has now become sort of a rare item, people have been experimenting on alternative methods to wipe, most of which are clogging up sewage systems everywhere. Talk about being in deep shit.