I think it’s an extraordinary concept. It’s nothing short of genius.
edward Povey
The legendary Edward Povey has been a professional artist for over 50 years. Against an international backdrop of exhibitions, celebrations, critiques and doubts, he has painted, tutored, and overcome his fears and uncertainties multiple times. Unquestionably, he has seen a lot. Even so, when he first heard about Quarantine Events, the experimental 7-day artistic programmes running in Menorca, Spain, Edward wasn’t sure what to make of it. Little did he know this was the beginning of a life-changing experience.
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Modelling courtesy of London model Emily Poynton. Photograph of Baroness Ersilia La Lomia, Sicily, courtesy of her niece, Marzia Caramazza. Available from Ray Waterhouse at Modern Fine Art in New York.
“I’d heard of Quarantine Events because a friend of mine, someone I had coached in workshops actually, wound up going and then staying with me immediately after. She was very excited.” Soon enough, Quarantine Events contacted Edward directly with an invitation to mentor for their October 2024 event: INTERZONE. “I honestly wasn’t sure from Darren and Carles’ descriptions, and from what my friend described, whether it would be my kind of thing. It sounded really out there, basically. It sounded very extreme and extremely unusual; I thought maybe it was a gimmick of some sort. I couldn’t have been more wrong in that assumption.”
“The big word is that it’s ‘unusual’. When you think of all the artist workshops that you hear of – and I’ve run quite a multitude of workshops – I would say this one is completely unique and it can only be done on a grand scale. It’s the nature of it.”
And so yes, it’s very dramatic, it’s very theatrical; you’re on a deserted island with quarantine buildings on it.
But it completely transformed me, and I loved it so much that I truly didn’t want to leave.
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In a major private collection in Greece.
Yes, it’s experimental. But no, you aren’t in danger.
While each programme is kept a secret, artists shouldn’t be wary of the unknown. Quarantine designs each programme well in advance, even if this isn’t shared publicly beforehand. This secrecy is integral so attendees can’t fully prepare – an important element to Quarantine’s success. Each event is different, but they all aim to shake up preconceptions and assumptions, which Edward believes is key to genuine artistic growth. There is beauty in the intensity. But above all, Edward stresses, applicants are always safe.
“We all go in with assumptions, and [Quarantine] really shakes them up because [the programme] is constantly changing. The attendees never know what’s coming, which is part of the thrill of it really. But this wakes them up sufficiently; they begin to have realisations about who they are and what they really want. And you have to shake people out of their habits to bring that about.
But what makes that possible is this enormous sense of safety. No one has to do anything they don’t want to do, and people have that time to process. The place is very safe, so they feel comforted and encouraged, and they feel they can be who they are.
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Past events have proven that artists attending look after each other as friends, while mentors look after them as established artists to support their careers and attitudes. On top of that, the Quarantine team oversees all, ensuring emotional and physical safety. “Their job is keeping an eye on everything.” shares Edward. “And they come and go. They hardly have time to talk with each other because they’re all a hundred percent on their own specific jobs. They’re moving equipment, preparing the stage for lectures, walking through the art labs, making sure everyone’s okay. And they’re good at it; they’re really compassionate.”
It’s a fully holistic approach to support.
“There are some tears, because it’s emotional,” muses Edward “but always you get an arm slid around someone’s back. These participants had only been together for a couple of days, yet they look after each other. I love that you can see them change while you’re there. We saw people change like night and day. It’s really incredible.”
Becoming the best that you can be.
Traditional workshops often have one mentor teaching, carrying the danger of learners slanting in the direction of that artist. Quarantine’s approach mitigates this: “With six or seven mentors, attendees get shown that there are all these ways of being, all these ways of making an art career. The conclusion that they come to is ‘I can become myself – give up my preconceptions and really get involved with my own feelings and experiences – and make art founded in that personal experience’.” explains Edward Povey.
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When you sign up to work with an individual in a workshop, you want something that they’ve got – and that is valid and useful and interesting.
But at the Quarantine Events, you are really acquiring your own perspective, and that is being taken seriously. Your own creative angle on things is suddenly being respected by a lot of people.
Artists at Quarantine’s INTERZONE event learned much more than practical artistic skills. Additionally, they learned about handling money and working with collectors and galleries, and even the foundational concepts of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ art techniques are brought into question. “Mentors also talk about the value of failures, because the truth is if you don’t embrace the disasters, you’ll never make it – because it’s the name of the game, isn’t it? Every career includes things that go wrong. Learn how to turn that around and say: well, what did that teach me? That’s important – and that may never have been [explored] for a lot of artists. Remove virtue and wrongdoing from the equation, and suddenly they can actually breathe.”
Ultimately, I think what occurs [at Quarantine Events] is not just skills and not just knowledge, but emotional education and attitudinal education.
Lazaretto: an atmospheric island.
Edward Povey seems to have fallen in love with the atmospheric island as much as Quarantine Events’ vision. Describing Lazaretto Island as “a powerful, potent place”, in his eyes, Quarantine couldn’t have picked a better location. “It’s the ideal place to go through their [programmes]. The complex of stone buildings on the island are beautiful, in that 1700s, 1800s Spanish style. You arrive on the ferry, and it’s quiet there. Throughout the week you see attendees sitting in these beautiful gardens with palm trees, on the lawns – it’s exquisite. No mobile phones, there’s just the Mediterranean wind, the sun, and just this crowd of people you’ve come to really like.
“There are all these paths turning away through the evening light with benches here and there, so you get a little sprinkling of people having deep conversations as the sun goes down, then having dinner with these people you really like… It’s a dream.”
Yes, this is an intense week. Attendees need it to be the real thing. Otherwise, why waste your time?
Artists interested in applying should be prepared for a rich experience. “You are there for around 14 hours a day. There’s just time to sleep and get back [to the island] every day. But after a day or two, that becomes normal. It doesn’t matter what your sleep routine was beforehand. It’s full on – but the actual experience of it is that the weather’s warm, there are palm trees, you’re in these beautiful buildings, and a couple of people can just wander out of a session, sit in the sunshine and have a chat. There’s plenty of time for dinner, plenty of time for lunch. And you see everyone walking, laughing and talking about what’s going on. There’s an atmosphere: it’s a kind of paradise. But behind the paradise, a lot of work is going on.”
New horizons, new possibilities.
There’s a slight melancholy in Edward’s voice as he recounts these memories from INTERZONE. Such was the intensity of his positive experience, it leaves a gentle mourning with the realisation that he will never experience that exact event, with those same people, again. The ephemeral nature of such events can often crystalise the experience – but importantly, these Quarantines aim to establish long-term positive impacts and lessons learned within its attendees. The tight-knit bonds formed have also not been forgotten. And interestingly, mentors have found themselves as impacted as well.
“We’ve kind of fallen in love with each other.” Edward laughs. “We’re meeting up in London, we’re doing Zoom calls; there’s such a connection and trust between us now. The Quarantine Event in October didn’t just affect the attendees. It completely revised us [mentors] and opened our eyes to whole new ways of seeing. Just simply being there and experiencing all the other [artists] just blew us away. It gave us new horizons, new possibilities.
“We’re also in touch with quite a few of the attendees, and they told us that in New York, for example, a whole bunch of them got together. They wanted to see each other again. More things like that are planned. They all get together and they become family, really.”
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His initial experience has been so strong, that Edward will be back as a mentor in The Art Spirit, the upcoming Quarantine in April 2025. Being a “naturally fearful” person himself by nature, he admits some nerves in anticipation as each Quarantine event continues to evolve based off previous feedback and new ideas. But the important factor, he says, is not letting his fear of the unknown hold him back.
“What’s familiar always feels safe and what’s unfamiliar feels unsafe, but you don’t move forward with that, do you? You just stagnate. And in a way you incrementally stop living. The main outcome of Quarantine, I think, is that the people that came, including the mentors, all incrementally began living again.
“That puts it in a nutshell.”
The Art Spirit April 2025 event is still open for applications. Read more about the upcoming The Art Spirit event here – and apply to be a part of this unique event here. Don’t miss out, applications will soon close!
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