University of Birmingham: A Place To Call Home, the Exchange
-
![Visitors interacting with a colourful exhibition structure, with text panels in the shape of jigsaw pieces. One man kneels and places a sticker beneach a panel that asks ""Why do you think people are most likely force to leave their home country?"]()
A two-stage exhibition project to highlight crucial social research from University of Birmingham .
A Place to Call Home and Making Home. For the University of Birmingham, at The Exchange, Centenary Square, Birmingham. 22 October – 30 November 2022.
-
![A large cut-out image of a smiling man in a wheelchair exhibited on an orange and yellow frame. There’s a quote from the man on an orange square on the image. On the left, an orange text panel is titled “Improving Adult Care Together”]()
We worked closely with project partners to develop an interactive exhibition that could address key research into migration, gender based violence, ageing, adult social care and homeless. After workshopping ideas, we collectively decided on the central theme of Home as a way of exploring these important subject matters.
-
![A person writes on a postcard with a red pencil on a wooden ledge attached to a colourful yellow, orange and green exhibition structure. Above the ledge, other handwritten postcards are displayed. One reads “when you don’t have a home to stay in”]()
The pilot project invited visitors to contribute their ideas of what home means, via video messages, written responses and voting using stickers. These responses informed the subsequent exhibition, through videos, audio, setworks, photography and graphics.
-
![Two visitors look at exhibits in a gallery. Lifesize images of smiling people are printed on orange panels with quotes. In the foreground a freestanding display of blue, orange, yellow and green shapes ask questions about what a home needs.]()
We designed a colourful modular display structure, that defines the contemporary interventions from the building's historical interior. The displays are designed to be easily reused and reconfigured, with updatable graphics for use in future projects.
-
![A man sits on a wooden bench opposite a large video screen of a smiling man in a wheelchair. It is one of three screens connected by a colourful structure that extends around the room. In the background, display panels ask questions about home.]()
A three-screen display integrated life-sized videos of academics and community members explaining research and lived experiences. We commissioned photographic portraits of participants, and printed these as 1:1 scale prints and fret-cut figures. These were placed in the exhibition and in the Vault's cafe to bring people face-to-face with participants, and make the complex subject matters human and accessible.
-
![A man stands in a booth facing a video screen with a blue jigsaw piece on it, and the question “What does home mean to you?”]()
An interactive booth allowed visitors to contribute their thoughts. Video responses and text quotes were then incorporated into the second stage of the exhibition.
-
![A large display of blue, orange, yellow and green 2-dimensional shapes in the centre of a room. Some are cut in the shapes of domestic furniture, like a TV set, sofa, door and kitchen sink, and feature quotes and questions about what home is.]()
We designed a sculpture made of laminated plywood in the shapes of domestic furniture for the main exhibition. Questions and audience responses from the pilot project were printed on these shapes, bringing personal voices into the centre of the space.
