SWIPE RIGHTS
Digitale Welten exhibition 2026
On October 16, we opened the “Digitale Welten 2026” exhibition. The exhibition showcases the results of a 3-day hackathon in which young people from across the Rhine-Main region collaborate to develop ideas for better, more socially responsible media and the Internet.
So what would happen if children and teens designed their own protocols for a fair, safe, and wild internet and social media?
Instead of making decisions about young people and with the theme “Swipe Rights,”, the Digitale Welten festival invites them to explore the internet as a public space that can be shaped: What rules, protocols, rights, and utopian visions does an internet need that belongs to young people—without monitoring, tracking, or selling them? Together, they will discuss, program, design, and create prototypes and artistic concepts for an alternative, better internet.
They are supported in this endeavor by wonderful volunteer mentors from the fields of IT and design, as well as the artists Sarah Wenzinger, Dasha Ilina, Kati Hyyppä, Carolin Liebl, and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler.
The results can be seen in this exhibition.
Opening Hours
Opening: October 16, 2026, starting at 6:00 p.m.
Opening dates: October 17 through November 1, 2026
Wednesdays 5–9 p.m.
Thursdays & Fridays 2–6 p.m.
Saturdays & Sundays, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
Exhibition Program
Guided Tour: The Internet as a Construction Site
Interactive guided tour of the SWIPE RIGHTS exhibition
Together, we’ll explore the artworks: What issues, aspirations, and utopian visions lie behind them? We’ll discover the exhibition as a construction site for the Internet and use this as a starting point to discuss what we want to change. Children, teens, and adults are all welcome!
Our on-site team will be happy to explain everything about the exhibition.
When? Saturdays & Sundays at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
We’re happy if you register here: https://ticket.nodeforum.org/dw26-guidedtours/ – or you may also just drop by.
If you’d like to visit with your class or a group, we’d be happy to give you a guided tour even outside of our regular hours. To arrange this, please register at least three days in advance by emailing anastasia.wilbrandt@nodeforum.org!
Hands-on Activity: Open Soldering Station – Make your SWIPE RIGHT glow!
What do you want for the internet? Which rights are important to you? Design your own SWIPE RIGHT as a small light-up sign for your home! Let the exhibition and the youth manifesto inspire you to formulate your own demand for the internet or a digital house rule. Create your message and make it glow with an LED you solder yourself. You can take your card home or give it as a gift. Have you always wanted to try soldering?
Just stop by during opening hours—no registration or prior experience required. We’ll help you!
The impetus for their work is urgent, as discussions are currently taking place everywhere about banning social media for children and teens—Australia and the United Kingdom are already moving in that direction. Yet the adults making these decisions are constantly glued to their cell phones themselves. Young people are growing up in digital spaces that were built not to protect their rights, but to drive engagement, data extraction, and growth. The answer to this cannot simply be a ban on usage. Young people have a right to digital self-determination and to the utopian, promising aspects of digital worlds—education, networking, self-directed learning, and leisure activities.
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