Protest S.H.E.D

S.H.E.D was installed over the August Bank Holiday weekend at the National Justice Museum, Nottingham. This research activity was to test out one of the configurations - which has been designed to be an open and engaging space for public to come and sit. To do this at the museum we contextualised the design in terms of its offering as a space for the public to contemplate and write ideas about what systems of injustice they felt were occurring and what they would be willing to protest about. The S.H.E.D functioned as a research-generation site for the National Justice Museum whilst also conducting an investigation into its own research agenda around how the open configuration could work on an intimate level with the public, to engage them when typically the open configuration has been used for large scale festivals and performance work presentations. This installation at the National Justice Museum demonstrated that the open plan configuration was able to also work with intricate and detailed activities, the open configuration didn't seem to prevent a sense of intimacy for this activity as we were able to construct a clear set of instructions. We were also able to, with permissions from National Justice Museum, display the first image of Greta Thunberg on a protest. This was then hung in the S.H.E.D as a trigger point to encourage people to sit with Greta, to reflect and to write about protest and justice. We were also considering the bespoke element to the design process in relation to Covid and how to operate the space through a design response - to create airflow and maintain it as being a safe and engaging space. We were able to prove that S.H.E.D can operate as an adaptable space even in response and reply to government guidance. We had over 524 visitors to S.H.E.D over the installation period. It has been a research tool for the museum, which the S.H.E.D has been designed to do which is to operate as a research incubation and public consultation and facilitation space. The result of this event, and the research material that has been generated will now help to inform a large scale exhibition at the museum in summer 2020 and it will also include the S.H.E.D being back at the museum to carry on the conversations that had started in the S.H.E.D and other activities will also take place to support both the ambition of the Protest S.H.E.D as a space for the shedding of preconceptions about people and place. The S.H.E.D will return to the Museum for 4 weeks in 2021, 2 weeks in the summer holiday and 2 weeks in October half term for a full programme of delivery working on the themes of protest and young people.

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