Boredom Rebellion: the first all-virtual Science Gallery Youth Symposium
The third edition of the annual Youth Symposium explored how active boredom sparks collaborative creativity.
BOREDOM REBELLION Youth Symposium 2021
BOREDOM REBELLION was Science Gallery’s 2021 iteration of the annual Youth Symposium, a gathering of advisors, mediators, staff and core audiences of Science Gallery. In response to the restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, all galleries came together in a virtual event that took place from 29 to 31 January. The program consisted of a dense schedule of workshops, talks and performances, inviting young participants around the world to connect and create together.
The third edition of the Youth Symposium brought together over 500 participants across 19 sessions, investigating how science, technology, art and design can combine to tackle and solve some of the world’s most urgent and timely problems. Design thinking, science and theatre, meditative practice, creativity and algorithms & AI were some of the many topics addressed during the three-day event.
“BOREDOM REBELLION was borne to address the malaise and frustration Covid has wrought.”
From Science Gallery Bengaluru’s “Contagious Ideas”, part of BOREDOM REBELLION Youth Symposium 2021.
Some of the program highlights were the immersive theatre play Democracy. Privacy. Security that reflected on data privacy, the world-building game Afro-Rithms from the Future, which envisioned the world through afro-futurist lenses, and the workshop Contagious ideas, where participants worked together on a design challenge, from ideation to execution. Also, an inaugural mentorship scheme was offered to the youth facilitators, pairing them with Science Gallery staff, creating lasting connections and important learning experiences for both mentors and mentees.
In addition to the official program, the participants were invited to engage and share resources in an online community hosted in a bespoke virtual engagement platform. Over 50 community boards were initiated during the event to continue the conversations after the sessions and 1,174 messages were exchanged between attendees
WHAT THEY SAID?
‘Covid threatened to derail the Science Gallery Network’s annual Youth Symposium — an event generally held inperson — but the Network’s staff recognised pandemicrelated isolation gave us that much more impetus to create a meaningful place for young people to gather, converse, think and act. BOREDOM REBELLION was borne to address the malaise and frustration Covid has wrought. Young people responded to that, and brought so much to this event, both as facilitators and participants. It was a joy to see.’ – Katrina Enros, Global Engagement and Insights, Science Gallery InternationalWHAT WERE THE BENEFITS AND IMPACTS?
WHAT WERE THE BENEFITS AND IMPACTS?
▶ Network CollaboratioN
▶ Inspiring Creativity
▶ Informal and nonformal learning
▶ Youth Engagement
Sources: Katrina Enros, Global Engagement and Insights, Science Gallery International; Science Gallery International website and Youth Symposium documentation.
Compiled by: Jahitza Balaniuk, Science Gallery International in 2021
Activity date: 2021