An astronaut, a slouching skater, a bunnyheaded man, a gothic glamazon in a black velvet dress – characters both fantastical and true to life idle in the same queue, moving towards a visor-wearing vaccinator, and, we hope, a whole new world.
In the face of a global pandemic that amplified inequalities and spurred long-brewing social upheaval, local communities unified globally. We became creative in our resilience and found commonality across continents. The ongoing Covid-19 discourse is pocked by society’s most galling issues: we see how systemic racism and a lack of faith in institutional power has infected minority communities with vaccine hesitancy. Young people are pummelled by online misinformation and conspiracy. Governments across the world have leveraged the pandemic to roll back our right to protest their brutalities.
This is a story inspired not just by the vaccine push, but by dialogues worldwide, and the hope they bring to a globe forever shifted. “We were talking about this issue as a ‘ for global youth culture’ and what that could mean,” says IB of some of the earliest issue conversations. “It just had to start with the pandemic and the vaccine – a global problem and a global solution. How do we create around this?” It’s this ‘somehow’ – the idea that, against all odds culture will find a way – that makes 2021 such an inspiring and historic year.
