This second annual ‘Year in Review’ carries on my tradition I started last year to illustrate the notable events of each month in the calendar. This iteration, like last year's, is inspired by a specific period in art history as a way to visually archive the past year into the history books. The Greek vase imagery spans across the rectangular structure, organized in the way I mentally picture the calendar year. Sometimes called ‘calendar synesthesia’, this neurological phenomenon affects how certain people’s visual pathways are stimulated when thinking of the months of the year. I’ve chosen to highlight important global and national moments that represent the highs and lows of the year, from political events, to pop culture phenomena. For more information on the background of this project please visit my 2020 blog post.
Inspiration: Ancient Greek Vase Paintings
MONTHLY VISUAL 'KEY'
January
(6th) Pro-Trump rioters storm the US Capitol on the day Congress voted to approve President Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.
(8th) Twitter bans Trump as punishment for inciting violence at the Capital.
(15th) Wandavision premiers on Disney+.
(20th) Joe Biden is inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States, becoming the oldest individual to hold the office.
(28th) GameStop shares rise 1,500% as amateur traders on Reddit create a ‘short squeeze’ against Wall Street.
February
(1st) The military in Myanmar stage a coup and declare a state of emergency.
(4th) Merck, the developer of Ivermectin (horse dewormer), states that there is no evidence it is effective in treating COVID-19, following support from anti-vaxxers.
(9th) The second impeachment trial of Donald Trump.
(15th) Texas is hit with a severe storm that results in 3 million being without power.
March
(7th) Harry and Meghan’s tell-all interview with Oprah after stepping down as working members of the British Royal Family last year.
(11th) Digital artist Beeple sells non-fungible token (NFT) of Everydays: The First 5,000 Days at auction for a record $69.3 million.
(23rd–29th) ‘Ever Given’, one of the world’s largest container ships, is stuck in the Suez Canal, blocking the canal and costing global trade nearly $10 billion.
(26th) Lil Nas X releases Montero (Call Me by Your Name) as the lead single to his debut studio album.
April
(5th) India records over 100,000 new daily cases as a hotspot of the pandemic.
(9th) Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, dies at 99.
(20th) Derek Chauvin is convicted for the murder of George Floyd.
(25th) The 93rd Academy Awards are held. Nomadland wins best picture as well as best director for Chloé Zhao, the second woman ever to win.
May
(13th) In the US, the CDC says fully vaccinated individuals can stop wearing masks.
(19th) New York City begins to re-open after 423 days of lockdown measures.
(21st) Olivia Rodrigo releases her debut studio album SOUR, which has the biggest opening week for an album by a female artist in Spotify history.
(22nd) At least half of Canadians have received one vaccine dose.
(27th) Friends: The Reunion is released on HBO Max.
June
(6th) Four family members in London, Ontario are killed when they are struck by a truck in a targeted anti-Muslim attack.
(24th) The discovery of 751 unmarked graves at former Marieval Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan.
(24th) A condo tower in Florida collapses, killing 98 people.
(25th) The World Health Organization (WHO) says COVID-19 variant Delta is the most transmissible to date, now present in 85 countries.
(30th) Wildfire burns through Lytton, BC, following Canada’s highest ever recorded temperature (49.6C° on the 29th). Much of the town is destroyed.
July
(6th) Mary Simon is named Canada’s first Indigenous Governor General.
(19th) The UK lifts most COVID-19 restrictions on ‘Freedom Day’.
(20th) Amazon founder Jeff Bezos goes into space in the first unpiloted suborbital flight with an all-civilian crew.
(23rd) The Summer 2020 Olympic Games open in Tokyo, Japan, after a year delay.
(25th) Canadian swimmer Maggie Mac Neil wins gold in 100m butterfly.
(27th) Simone Biles withdraws from the women’s gymnastics team final to focus on her mental health. She also misses individual finals.
August
(2nd) 70% of Americans have had at least one COVID-19 vaccination shot.
(4th) Andre De Grasse wins a gold medal in the men’s 200m final.
(5th) Damian Warner wins gold in the decathlon, setting an Olympic record.
(5th) Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett perform at Radio City Music Hall in what is likely Bennett’s final onstage performance.
(16th) Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings premieres, becoming Marvel’s first Asian-led stand-alone superhero film.
(30th) The last American military evacuation plane flies out of Kabul ending its longest-ever war of 20 years in Afghanistan.
September
(7th) The Taliban hold a press conference to announce their interim government.
(13th) The Met Gala is held with the theme of ‘American independence’.
(17th) Korean survival drama, Squid Game, is released on Netflix becoming the streaming platform’s most successful show.
(20th) Justin Trudeau and the Liberals win a snap Canadian election.
(24th) Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig ‘the two Michaels’ are released after being detained in China for 1,020 days.
(30th) The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, ‘Orange Shirt Day’, becomes a statutory holiday to mark the legacy of Canadian Indian residential schools.
October
(3rd) The Pandora Papers investigation reveals concealed money in the offshore financial system held by political leaders and global elites.
(21st) Canada unveils an international vaccine passport that will be required for plane travel. Restaurants begin enforcing vaccine mandates. Anti-vaxxers protest globally.
(22nd) Science fiction epic, Dune, premiers after a year-long delay.
(28th) Mark Zuckerberg announces Facebook is changing its corporate name to Meta amid increased scrutiny following leaked internal documents.
November
(Oct 31st–Nov 13th) The UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) is held in Glasgow.
(12th) Taylor Swift releases her re-recorded album Red (Taylor’s Version).
(12th) Judge rules to end Britney Spears’ conservatorship after 14 years.
(14th) Record-breaking rainfall leads to intense flooding in the Pacific Northwest disrupting transportation throughout British Columbia.
(19th) Adele releases her fourth studio album, 30.
(26th) WHO labels COVID-19 variant Omicron a “variant of concern”.
December
(1st) The Canadian government bans the practice of conversion therapy.
(8th) Olaf Scholz is sworn in as the new Chancellor of Germany, replacing Angela Merkel after 16 years.
(9th) Canada’s Food Price Report is released, which warns of rising food prices as the average inflation rate of goods for 2021 is 4.4 percent.
(10th) West Side Story premieres, directed by Steven Spielberg.
(25th) With the rise of Omicron, Christmas is once again approached with caution.
