Science Gallery International is Activating Arts and Culture at Davos 2018

Science Gallery International Amongst Artists Rallying Around World Economic Forum’s theme of “Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World” for Annual Meeting in Davos

Dublin/Davos, 23rd January 2018 – Science Gallery International (SGI) announced today that they are one of 40 leading international artists participating in the World Economic Forum’s 48th Annual Meeting. Science Gallery International has the extraordinary opportunity to present an exhibition, PORTALS, and provoke debate for the second year in a row in Davos, Switzerland.

This is SGI’s fourth partnership with the Forum creating stimulating opportunities to provoke conversations about the future of education, employment and equality – having participated in last year’s Annual Meeting in Davos, the Annual Meeting of New Champions in Dalian, China and created a bespoke installation for the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in San Francisco.

Andrea Bandelli, Executive Director of SGI is participating in the 2018 Annual Meeting once again as a Cultural Leader and as part of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network. He will be sharing his insights on the importance of the Arts in democratising access to science and imagining more inclusive futures with leaders from business, government, international organisations, academia and civil society – directly influencing the World Economic Forum’s agenda for 2030.

SGI have collaborated with the World Economic Forum on curating the exhibition PORTALS, which consists of four immersive digital gateways, and proposes a reclaiming of technology towards creating more meaningful human exchange. PORTALS invites participants into wholly different realities and ways of experiencing the world and presents an opportunity to see how much of ourselves we can really see reflected in others, reminding us of what makes us human and connecting us with each other in more meaningful ways.

PORTALS, made possible through partnership with IDA Ireland and the Wellcome Trust, includes Awavena by Lynette Wallworth, which transports participants via virtual reality into the Amazon where they will follow a female shaman (Awavena is the world-premiere of the second chapter in Lynette Wallworth’s Emmy-Award winning Collisions VR/AR series); Pulse Index by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, a biometric installation that records participants’ fingerprints at the same time as their heart rates, displaying data in a spiral room of skin; The Machine to Be Another by BeAnotherLab, a virtual reality experience that makes participants feel as if they were in the body of another; New Dimensions in Testimony by USC Shoah Foundation and Heather Maio, an interactive conversation where participants interact with the projected image of a holocaust survivor as he answers participants’ questions about his life seemingly in real time; and Shared_Portals by Shared_Studios for live face-to-face dialogue with people in locations such as a tech hub in Gaza, a refugee camp in Iraq, a university in Nairobi or a park in Colorado.

“The interplay of science, art and creativity brings the future forward. Science Gallery enables everyone from young adults to world leaders to shape the technological, economic and ethical issues of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Our collaborations with the World Economic Forum are a testament to how critical our work is to sustain innovation and shape the future of education.” said Dr. Andrea Bandelli, Executive Director Science Gallery International and World Economic Forum Cultural Leader.

Science Gallery is the world’s first university-linked network dedicated to public engagement with science and art. Science Gallery International is the independent not-for-profit catalysing the growth of the Global Science Gallery Network. The galleries, pop-up programmes and touring exhibitions of the Science Gallery Network are founded on the belief that young people hold the creative potential to tackle the world’s biggest challenges.

PORTALS is produced by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with Science Gallery International. Partners include BeAnotherLab, USC Shoah Foundation and Heather Maio, Shared_Studios, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Nicole Newnham and Lynette Wallworth. Science Gallery International is particularly thankful for IDA Ireland and the Wellcome Trust for partnering with them. Image credit World Economic Forum

Prepared and edited by @EdinaZejnilovic, Journalism Student at DCU

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