Commissioner Helen Connolly partnered with multiple local and international groups to put on the first ever Being. In Space event at the 2019 SA Dream Big Children’s Festival.
Held in the Bicentennial Conservatory at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, the ‘BiCon’ building was set up as a biosphere for visitors to explore, imagining that they had just discovered a galaxy far away, and that the Bicon was their eco-pod spaceship for the journey there.
Their Dream Big Children’s Festival mission: to develop their own personal astronaut training Design Code to decide how they would ‘be’ in space.
Over 550 visitors explored the BiCon building’s biosphere over two days, walking through the conservatory garden to find words hidden among the tropical plant collection to make up their code.
A random sample of Design Codes collected after the event showed that most of the space cadets chose to be ‘happy’, ‘strong’, ‘fearless’, and ‘kind’ while in space.
The interactive experience was designed in partnership with Urban Mind, Tutti Arts, and JPE Design Studio, to help children learn to problem solve around the ‘big challenges’ they may face on their journey through the cosmos.
Featuring a photo booth, illustrated walking paths displaying illustrations by South Australian artist Kuku Luku, and a ‘mission control design booth’, the two-day event proved a big hit.
