VIRAL is an interactive exhibition that explores what contagion is and how it works, revealing biological and social phenomena and examining its impact on our lives.
This exhibition was created by the Pavilion of Knowledge – Ciência Viva in cooperation
with Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie, in Paris, France, and Heureka, in Helsinki, Finland.
Visit. Be part of the phenomenon.
Pavilion of Knowledge – Ciência Viva
WHAT IS CONTAGION?
Visitors are welcomed to the contagion experience by a tunnel of sneezes, viruses and bacteria that will prepare them for a TV game show-type quiz and enable them to make decisions to control an epidemic and participate in a simulation of contagion.
Here, a definition is also a formula. Visitors will be able to identify disease-causing agents and explore the social networks that shape our lives and the different kinds of contact we establish with each other.
THE DIVERSITY OF CONTAGION
Careful! Laughing out loud is just one of the risks you take when experiencing all the diversity of social contagion. From testing themselves on the “yawn-o-meter” to discovering mirror neurons, visitors can also find out what financial contagion is and what makes a video go viral. No one leaves this area without trying to get a crowd to clap their hands.
IMMUNITY AND ISOLATION
In this area the visitor explores the absence of contagion. If we imagine a world without contagion, could it be that a sense of isolation is the key? Is immunity simply a form of protection? Life inside a silent room will certainly give you something to think about.
WE ARE CONTAGION
This last area examines the visitor’s role in contagion. The impact each of us has on the contagion process will not go unnoticed and the most important agent of contagion will take you by surprise. This contagious experience ends with an invitation to share ideas, thoughts and drawings: How could we infect the world?
Interactive travelling exhibition
Be part of the phenomenon
La Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie, Paris
november 2016 – september 2017
october 2017 – september 2018