Vehicles of Change

The "Temple of Science" exhibition is so rich and varied that it's easy to forget its being part of a university campus rather than a dedicated professional museum. As a reminder, another wing was added - and it turned out to be the most symbolic and, arguably, most important part of the whole project. The wing in question is fully focusing on studenthood.

"Studenthood" is an outlier in the "hood"-suffix family. It's a result of people's personal choices rather than a stage in their biological development - unlike childhood or adulthood. It's time-limited - as opposed to parenthood or priesthood. The choices provide motivation, the time-restriction - a sense of urgency. Combined, those two ingredients often produce driven, energetic individuals curious about the world around them and eager to contribute to it. The 1960 Greensboro sit-ins, the 1989 protests in China and the 2025 regime-change in Nepal are just a few examples of such contributions that occasionally go beyond disruptive actions. The modern German state pieced together in 1817 by student fraternities is arguably the most striking and most literal case of students-led politically meaningful creative initiative.

While humans are considered to be "fundamentally social beings driven biologically and evolutionarily to connect, cooperate and form relationships for survival and well-being", they are not programmed into political activism. One's personality does matter but, between nature and nurture, it's the latter that predominantly sets the agenda. The "students wing" of the exhibition explores a unique combination of need and opportunity that ferments young individuals into a cohesive social force. The initial trigger might be something as simple as 

Loosely translated, it means "I have to study for 5 years - only to become a shop assistant". 

Or this

"The pharmacies: the light that never goes out but is always ignored by the government!"

On their own, such creative compositions aren't very likely to foment unrest but they might bring about some breakthrough ideas first materializing in a following poster

The next step might depend on the level of cooperation and amount of trust within the group, and that's where shared interests easily associated with youth might come handy

The "students wing" is both a full-fledged story in its own right and a part of the "Temple of Science". Stories fare better when they have a hero, and one to connect posters and protests, guitars and motorcycles is Jose Bonifacio  D'Andrada e Silva who graduated from the University of Coimbra in Law and Natural Philosophy, and later taught there as a professor. Born in Brazil, he spent many years in Europe, quite a few of them in Portugal - to eventually return to his homeland and lead its independence movement against Portugal! The movement succeeded, and  D'Andrada e Silva became known as the "Patriarch of Independence".

As for the main part of the "Temple", it facilitates independence of countries by fostering independence of minds. Wonders from all over the world do for students what bright toys of various shapes and colours do for babies - namely, encourage exploration and stimulate creativity. The rest often follows.