We are NOT in this Together is a time-specific work in response to the latest Covid-19 impact on those living with invisible disabilities. 2020 has seen the phrase ‘we are all in this together’ resurface when it comes to ascribing a sense of togetherness and belonging from a shared experience that is Covid-19.
The theme of everybody being in something together has a longstanding history, from the Nine Inch Nails song of the same title to the Zac Efron musical number of the same name once again in 2008. For Covid-19, it was the United Nations that resurrected this statement in an effort to bring the humanity in all of us together. Sadly, it appears that neither several versions of this song nor the UN were successful in bringing us together and this isn’t a blame again as much as a game of unraveling the layers of societal structures which have created the need for us to come together in the first place.
Covid-19 has been pivotal in helping us confront our shortcomings to the most vulnerable aspects of our society. The infamous idea that we are all in this together acts as a magnanimous equaliser in which somehow all of our needs are equal, thereby responding to one strata of our society is to act for the entirety of our complex, intricate world filled with inequalities. Unfortunately, things do not go back to normal or ‘new normal’ when the majority of our population goes ‘back’ into the world. Living in isolation or staying in quarantine is not ‘new’ nor is it ‘new normal’ for millions of us but simply is it.
What is it? It’s staying in bed a full two hours every morning before being able to get up because our limbs don’t work, it’s being in agony while browsing through Netflix cos you don’t want to feel sleepy again with the pain meds and that’s if they work, it’s not knowing when your ‘good’ days and ‘bad’ days occur unlike the majority of people out there for whom the bad days end at a certain point, even if you don’t know when right now.
It’s simply this; we are not in this together because there literally isn’t any [one] space where the majority of people and those with invisible disabilities overlap. Bhavani Esapathi concludes: ‘I’m sorry to say, we are not in this together - we are in this, you are here and we are together right now and I hope because you are near me right now, maybe you can begin to understand what it’s like in my world. You can only begin to do that if you admit, we are not in this together’.
About the artist
Bhavani Esapathi is a writer, maker and social tech activist whose work attempts to educate the masses and stimulate new conversations towards systemic changes of our larger society. She is also the founder of The Invisible Labs, a digital platform for those living with chronic, invisible, incurable conditions. Her work has garnered support from numerous organisations such as The British Council, WIRED Magazine (Tokyo, Japan), Innovate UK, ACE and Leonardo Art & Science Institute. You can find out more about her by visiting her website as well as by dropping her a note on Twitter. You can also find Bhavani on Instagram and Facebook.
