What do a baby elephant made of recycled car parts, pictures of students in front of their computers and a fence full of gift-bags have in common? Although very different things, they have all become important symbols of the COVID-19  lockdown in Austria. The Vienna Technical Musuem is currently exhibiting these  objects and many more to show their diverse impact on society.

“It is corona. The children have to stay at home. There is a big confusion,” writes a second-grade (seven-year old) student in Vienna. For children, parents and teachers around the world, it’s been an extraordinarily challenging time as many schools have been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the last week or so, as some children in Austria start returning to school, albeit in a rather different way than before, they are reflecting on their new experience of learning at home.

At the United Nations Headquarters in Vienna, amid the murmur of diplomats, UN officials and staff conversing in conference rooms, offices and hallways, you’d sometimes hear the shriek of a 1st grader excited to pose with a UN flag during a guided tour.