30 March, 2020
From virtual pottery classes (yes, really) to coding boot camps to pasta-making livestreamed from Italy, we've found 11 ways for you to remain busy and stay connected from the comfort of home.
Londoners listen up. Missing your weekly fix from Bread Ahead? The much-loved bakery is holding Instagram Live cookery classes throughout the week. Tune in at 2pm GMT every day for masterful tutorials in everything from grissini to amaretti to good old-fashioned chocolate brownies. Visit its website to see what the pastry chefs have planned for the coming weeks and for a breakdown of the ingredients needed.
Remember that guitar you demanded as a teenager but never so much as plucked? It's time to dust it off. BRIT-Award winning Laura Marling is taking it back to basics and sharing step-by-step beginners tutorials on her Instagram page. Each video is just under 10 minutes long. It's not a course so to speak, but a fun and easy way to get the creative juices flowing. Laura's home is exquisite and there's a calm cadence to her voice which is oh-so-soothing; just watch that you don't fall asleep mid-tutorial.
You couldn't ask for better hosts, than 84-year-old Nonna Nerina and her granddaughter, Chiara. A week before the class, you'll receive a list of ingredients and links to the relevant equipment you might require. It's an exclusive affair. Nonna's recipes aren't pulled from any cookbooks; they're palimpsests of family traditions, passed down through generations. Each livestream lasts two hours and costs around £80, though keep your eyes peeled for discounts on the website.
You've been telling yourself you'll learn your HTML from your CSS for years now. If there were ever a time to get your geek on, it's now. General Assembly offers online full-time and short courses with professional tutors and course assistants in subjects such as user experience design and front-end web development. Test the waters with one of its single classes or day courses; some of the introductory sessions are free of charge.
The Institut Français de la Mode has opened up its course "Understanding Fashion: From Business to Culture" on FutureLearn (more on that later). Those with an eye on the industry can treat themselves to a handful of virtual lectures with representatives from Jacquemus, Saint Laurent, LVMH and others, as well as Sir Paul Smith himself. The aims of the self-proclaimed "Massive Online Open Course" are two-fold: to reflect on fashion as a cultural phenomenon and to examine it as an industry.
Kana Clay Parlour usually operates out of a workshop in Hackney, but it has now moved its pottery classes online. Before you ask, yes you do need to buy a few bits in advance. All the requisite tools can be bought in a bundle on Kana's website - you can even opt to have a bottle of wine or scented candle thrown in too - and will be delivered to your door before you start the course. A hunk of clay and all the tools costs £35. The first series of classes (three workshops in total) will be free, though a small £10 donation wouldn't hurt… We're feeling calm and collected already.
This masterclass from the epoch-defining literary legend is broken down into 23 separate short lessons and accompanied by a digital workbook which is crammed with lesson recaps, assignments and supplementary learning materials. Don't just stop there. Buy an annual MasterClass membership for £170 and you'll be able to stream unlimited courses from some of the world's most successful industry insiders - Dr Jane Goodall, Massimo Bottura and Hans Zimmer among others. It's not like we're short on time…
This image is on holiday
FutureLearn is a hefty online resource for those looking to brush up on their university studies or to explore a new field entirely. A smattering of top universities and cultural institutions from all over the world have uploaded digital short courses completely free of charge. Try a flexible short course; each lasts somewhere between two weeks to two months and requires a few hours of study time per week. Most are free, though you can pay a little more to qualify with a certificate. "Farm to Fork: Sustainable Food Production in a Changing Environment", anyone?
Coursera is similar to FutureLearn, though it's more focused on the American market. You'll find hundreds of free courses on its website, each of which lasts between four and six weeks. Much like FutureLearn, if you stump up around £32 you'll get access to a range of learning materials and eventually graduate with a certificate. We've earmarked the "In the Studio: Postwar Abstract Painting" course at MoMA and the series on biohacking your brain from Emory University.
You might have heard of Ryan Chetiyawardana. He was the brains behind the former Mondrian London's famous Dandelyan bar (named 2018's best bar in the world) and is the cocktail maestro in charge of Lyaness - the no-less dazzling bar now found in the basement of Sea Containers London. Interested in emulating his alchemy? Follow @lyanessbar on Instagram, where he's sharing cocktail recipes for those stuck at home. So far, a boozeless hot toddy and DIY martini. Stay tuned.
Skillshare is a precious skill-sharing hub for creative types. Featuring graphic design and photography through to marketing and entrepreneurship, it offers all kinds of expert-led courses - many of them are free and all are professionally produced by Skillshare. Its photography courses offer great intel for Instagram junkies, including 'Dark & Moody Food Photography for Instagram" and "How to Create a Cohesive Instagram Feed using Adobe Lightroom", for instance.
