Bodylore

What was the challenge?

Following a successful collaboration on our 2017 project My Body My Life, Open University researcher Victoria Newton and her team sought our help with the public engagement phase of their latest research project, examining the role of vernacular knowledge in women's contraceptive decision-making.

Despite unintended pregnancy and access to effective contraception being high on the policy agenda in the UK, the number of women choosing to use newer and more effective contraceptives over the contraceptive Pill or condoms remains low. Understanding that much of what we learn about our bodies and contraception comes from conversations with family and friends, Victoria’s research aimed to address the lack of attention that current reproductive and sexual health research pays to the influence of informal knowledge on women’s healthcare decisions.

Our challenge was to transform the vast body of research into an engaging, public-facing experience that would share knowledge, encourage fresh dialogue and improve the future experience of making contraceptive choices for everyone.

What did we do?

After careful studying of the research, we identified five moments in life where women were having influencing conversations about sexual health: having sex for the first time; when wanting to be sexually explorative and child-free; when settled in a long-term relationship where the onus of contraception falls on the woman; when wanting to get pregnant; and having sex after pregnancy. 

We were mindful of not creating a linear narrative as not all of these moments would be accurate or relevant for all women, and were very conscious that not all experiences were represented; these were highly generalised scenarios based largely on heterosexual relationships, but we felt they could nonetheless act as provocations for people to engage and to stimulate discussion and interest in the subject.

Taking these five ‘moments’, we imagined five scenarios where conversations about these might typically play out – a school corridor, the toilets of a nightclub, a ‘his and hers’ bathroom, a post-workout cafe, and a toddler play area.

To ensure high footfall we secured a pop-up shop in London’s Truman Brewery and, on a very small budget, we turned our five fictional micro spaces into light-touch immersive experiences. 

As visitors entered each space, the scene was set with background sounds of, for instance, schoolchildren chatter or techno club music. Then, by opening a locker in the school corridor, a tub of moisturiser in the bathroom or popping on some headphones connected to a handbag, visitors could listen to audio recordings of quotes from real women speaking to their own experiences of sex and contraception. 

Keeping things playful, written quotes were also waiting to be discovered on nappy bags, mirrors and shampoo bottles, whilst facts and stats about the types of available contraception were presented in a colourful and impactful window display to attract the attention of busy passers-by.

Visitors were encouraged to share their own thoughts, questions and experiences by writing them down on circular cards and slotting them into a giant ‘pill packet’ that was displayed for everyone to browse. 

The Bodylore exhibition ran for six days in October 2023.

What was the impact?

We were delighted that the Bodylore exhibition welcomed around 1600 visitors during its six-day run. Hundreds of those attendees engaged fully with the experience by sharing personal stories and providing feedback, from which we learnt that the exhibition had been very well received by the majority of visitors.

The Open University team facilitated the exhibition and had many fascinating conversations with visitors. They reflected that the space was successful in creating an informal and stimulating atmosphere in which strangers often engaged with each other, sharing stories or even just a giggle.

Following the success of Bodylore, we are now in discussion with Open University about taking a version of the exhibition ‘on the road’. A modification to the next iteration of Bodylore will be the inclusion of more mechanisms to enable us to capture even more of the unique stories from visitors, so that we can add to the ever-changing narrative on contraception.  

---

COLLABORATORS

Photography: Mike Massaro