Youth Day project: the Innovation and Art fair (October 4)

Here’s to the young science geeks, the art lovers, the “do-it yourselfer’s and the dreamers who stretch their imagination far beyond the edge of what’s possible. The Youth Art and Innovation Fair hosted by the World Intellectual Property Organization – WIPO and the International Trade Centre was for you.

We explored a stimulating exhibition taking us through the evolution of innovation from vintage 3-D glasses to a modern virtual reality experience, laser-cutting technology… and who can forget the mini boats made out of recycled material by children as young as 7-years old, showing us the true meaning of sustainable and inclusive innovation.

It didn’t end there, youngsters gathered (candy floss in hand – awakening the child in all of us) for a fun design-thinking workshop and intimate fireside chats on how to make the intellectual property system and business environment work for young aspiring entrepreneurs.

We saw the weird, we saw the wonderful, we heard from the experts, exchanged ideas and most importantly, we were inspired to create, to innovate and to take our ideas to market.

Thank you to everyone who attended and made the event a massive success.

Thank you for your leadership Edward Kwakwa, for your grounding opening remarks Matthew Wilson and Victor Owade, for your insight Rudolph Dadey and thank you for the excellent collaboration Jan Van Mol, Claire Sterngold, Milena Niehaus, Julia Zietemann, Nora Levke, Jakub Michalak, Valentina Rossi, Anais Amblard and Nathan Habimana

Nadine Hakizimana

Photo credit: Manu Berrod

Fem.Friendly addresses the issue of menstrual hygiene and the importance for all menstruators to have adequate facilities to manage their menstruation properly and with dignity.

With the overarching goal to create more female-friendly environments, Fem.Friendly gathers data on toilet facilities and works to develop solutions to improve menstrual health and hygiene in public spaces in Geneva, Switzerland and beyond.

Make You Make Me is an interactive sculpture, a three-dimensional illustration, created to be played with.

Users can explore unique combinations of different elements in order to create faces, expressions, persona’s; or just abandon reality altogether.

An optical instrument through which two pictures of the same object, taken from slightly different points of view, are viewed, one by each eye, producing the effect of a single picture of the object, with the appearance of depth or relief.

Patented in 1901 in New York by Underwood & Underwood.

Make3D Company Limited is the first Gambian 3D Printing company which aims to provide access to 3D printing technology to Gambian youths, experts and public with an intention to enhance local businesses and increase local decentralized customized production using the 3D printing technology.

The Ninki Nanka Trail Board Game is an innovative project with the aim of using 3D printing technology to contribute to the efforts of economic recovery and reopening of the tourism as a result of the negative impact of Covid-19. The initiative aims to support tourism promotion, creation of income generation opportunities for tourism MSMEs/SMEs through sales, employment creation for youth as well as improving productive capacities of local artists. It is an open platform for local and international stakeholders with the potential to scale up to other countries.

This design of cultural/historical elements of The Gambia was produced to support adopting innovation technologies in Gambian tourism and handicraft sectors in collaboration with the International Trade Centre within the Youth Empowerment project (YEP) funded by the European Union

Founded in 2018, NYOTA FARSAMO is a Somali-Kenyan artisan collective from Dadaab, a town in north-east Kenya turned refugee camp in 1991. Supported by ITC’s and European Union’s project: Area Based Livelihood Initiative- Garissa project, the Collective is made up of forty-six women and two men, who work together to make beautifully handmade home décor products inspired by our common Somali heritage. Their product collection includes coiled baskets, plaited floor mats and baskets, striking tie dye textiles, intricately carved wooden spoons and more!

NYOTA means “star” in Swahili and FARSAMO means “artisan” in Somali – this combination of Swahili and Somali represents the mixed cultures of the collective. With their handwork, the collective hopes to share the beauty and story of our culture and improve the challenging situation in Dadaab by reaching out to markets in Kenya and internationally.

With their handmade products, NYOTA FARSAMO hopes to share the artisanal heritage, history and culture of Somalia. Unfortunately, times of conflict usually are moments when countries lose a large part of

their cultural property and heritage. NYOTA FARSOMA hopes to contribute to its survival.

Some of the skillsets featured in NYOTA FARSAMO’s handmade objects are inherent to Somali culture. These include: tie dye, plaited basketry, coiled basketry and woodwork designs.

The NYOTA FARSAMO collective seeks to integrate its Somali heritage with contemporary design aesthetics to create coveted artisanal products that are both traditional and cool.