Cultural leisure in the time of COVID-19: impressions from the Netherlands

Abstract

Amongst leisure practices, culture plays a fundamental role in the leisure landscape. Leisure provides opportunities for escaping daily routines of work and care, and contributes to expanding knowledge, skills and sense of belonging and self-realization. But what happens to leisure, and cultural leisure in the face of extreme scenarios? This article takes a closer looks at the city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, asking in general 1) what we can observe in cultural leisure in times of COVID-19, and, more specifically, 2) how cultural leisure practices have changed amongst students, in particular during times of pandemic. Students feel they are spending much more time studying, which has seemingly resulted in a subjective experience of increased uneasiness and even meaninglessness that pervades their daily lives. The shift in leisure practices and timings, as well as perception of time and actual time management, are seemingly disrupting normal student life. Students also benefited from digital cultural initiatives by artists, museums, festivals, and other cultural agents. The constraints of the lockdown also propelled forms of creativity in their leisure practices.