S.H.E.D This is Derby

This research enquiry positioned S.H.E.D as a city-based site responsive socio-political and public space that consciously disrupted the institutional and cultural market place context for artistic practice. In partnership with Opportunity Area and Derby County Community Trust S.H.E.D was commissioned for This is Derby Celebration Event to install S.H.E.D as a pilot outing. The event was entitled “There’s nothing to do in Derby” – was a one-day celebration event like no other. Saturday 13 July 3-8pm at Derby’s Market Place celebrated the talents and achievements of our young people in a vibrant takeover in Derby’s city centre. A fusion of arts, culture and sports activities and performances brought the Market Place to life for everyone to enjoy and inspire our city – that actually does have a lot to offer! The day concluded with a spectacular finale. Every school & youth group across the city that engaged with This is Derby helped support the young people we have been working with to take part in the celebration. To do this, the S.H.E.D project developed a research process that brought together a broad range of contributors including schools, musicians, dance, sport, fine and performing arts and design academic theorists and political and social science, in addition to practicing artists, architects, and designers, young person mentors, and cultural partners from across Derby. The project required Jones and her team to working with The Paper Birds Theatre Company, This is Derby Cultural Producers, Will Turner and Alix Manning-Jones, PlusOne and Professor Alex Nunn from University of Derby. Through this collaborative and co-creative approach to working a devised show was created with PlusOne Care leavers dealing with notions of home and place and reflect on their relationship to Derby. By attending rehearsals, a work in progress sharing at BabyPeople where Dr Jones was able to talk with the young persons about the design of S.H.E.D to support the development and delivery of the show.,a performance configuration was codesigned which generated a safe space that was co-created with them to enable them to feel confident to perform to over 1500 people in attendance at the celebration event. Working with the project partners, Dr Jones generated a bespoke configuration. To do this, it required an in depth understanding of the parameters of the show, the themes and personal challenges that the young people were facing about performing. Linked with this was thinking about S.H.E.D in terms of its practical and logistical requirements as a public installation in the city centre of Derby for the market place. Working then with Walk the Plank, producers of the city centre event we were able to discuss the location and how the space would be engaged during the day when the show was not taking place. To do this, Dr Jones worked with Professor Alex Nunn to use the S.H.E.D as a consultation space for research-generation activity. This was a new development for S.H.E.D to be a vehicle for research. In addition to this, and to support this through thinking about a new approach to how design can facilitate dialogue, Dr Jones proposed that three pod spaces could be created, which were commissioned by Derby County Community Trust to be created as sustainable 3x3m pods to offer additional site-responsive areas to extend the footprint of S.H.E.D in the market place and to also offer alternative spaces for contemplation and interaction outside of the main structure of S.H.E.D – these pods became additional micro-sites for discourse into the impact of This is Derby, which in turn, extended the role of S.H.E.D as a consultation space. S.H.E.D tested out the question to what extent can a mobile, site specific and co-creative space generate discourse with the public about how design can support dialogue – in this case, centred on the impact of how pop up spaces offer a fundamental platform for unheard voices. Of note, was the added discourse on notions of home and placemaking – linking to gathered reflections on the housing crisis in the UK, care-leavers experiences and their ideas about home and for their own future and that of others. The presence of S.H.E.D at this event, the level of interaction and engagement with members of the public and cultural partners in the city led to a further invitation to conduct a schools’ tour across Derby to take the S.H.E.D to continue to engage with young people and provide a platform for access to arts and cultural activity

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International