Conference for high school students

*A conference for high school students was held on 7 September 2015, revolving entirely around the theme of ‘global citizenship’. The conference was organised by the National Museum of World Cultures and LeidenGlobal, in collaboration with SCOL, the Stichting Confessioneel Onderwijs Leiden (Leiden Foundation for Confessional Education). Students from various high schools attached to SCOL were first given a tour of the exhibition *Global Imaginations in De Meelfabriek, which served as input for the subsequent debate.

The debate itself revolved around the influence that today’s large global changes have on local living environments. Students also tried to come to terms with the question of what it means to simultaneously be a ‘Leidenaar’ and a citizen of the world. The theme of ‘water’ was also featured prominently during the debates, as the Argentinian-English artist duo Jorge & Lucy Orta have built a large water purification plant as their contribution to the exhibition at De Meelfabriek.

The results of the conference were presented as ‘issues’ during the artists’ dinner, which was chaired by Jorge and Lucy Orta on Tuesday 8 September 2015. These pitches were captured on video.