Immersive exhibitions.
Immersive exhibitions.
Marking the 100th anniversary of Womens’ suffrage, we designed and produced an immersive exhibition in partnership with The National Archives and National Trust. Audience members were recruited and deployed as militant members of the suffragette movement in the London Pavilion, a historic meeting point for the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). Events were inspired by records on Lillian Ball, a dressmaker and mother from Tooting who was arrested for smashing a window in 1912.
Suffragette City followed another historic live exhibition we made with our partners at The National Archives and National Trust; ‘Caravan Club’ which recreated the seizure of a queer club in Soho, 1934. This project marked the 50 year anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality. By pioneering this immersive way of experiencing history on their important anniversaries, these projects not only aimed to connect present with past, but also explored the enduring moral dilemmas we inherit with them.
It was important to commemorate the more easily forgotten militant methods of protest, as there is still an unease in civic opinion towards the correct way to protest. Were these techniques effective, or necessary? By inviting the audience to make decisions with increasing increments of danger, they come to know what it actually took to participate in the suffragette movement.
Participants were indiscriminately incarcerated and interrogated, while Lillian Ball, was coerced into testifying against the rights movement, under threat of losing her children. Something about the differing experiences under the weight of the patriarchy, other social factors such as race, class still affect their experiences.
We also partnered with the Naz Legacy Foundation to host Diversity Day within the project. Young people went through the experience, as it shone light on the lesser known participants in the Women’s rights movement.
“At first, the options seem a little jolly, a little light hearted. You can learn how to make a rosette, you can pick an alias in case of caught, you can learn a song and march through Piccadilly Circus banners aloft. But once the option to take on the mission is presented, a growing sense of jeopardy emerges, the cosiness dissipates…it was at this moment the lightbulb came on, as in became abundantly clear how strong the patriarchy is (even if you are calling yourself Millicent).” Ian Foster / Ought to be Clowns.
“When we are exploring something that is difficult to understand, there is no better way to do it than immersive, because sometimes things need to be experienced first person.”
As the mock women’s vote march toured Piccadilly Circus, they walked alongside modern women’s rights marches, creating a parallel between how we view the past, and the experience of today.
