Changing rooms… Part of the National Trust’s Women and Power programme which gives a voice to those campaigning on both sides of the suffrage debate, this exhibition at Killerton explored women’s suffrage through fashion and from the opposing perspectives of two members of the family, Gertrude and Eleanor Acland. 

From their initial arrival into ‘a house divided’, visitors take sides, picking a candidates campaign card. They then follow the exhibition, exploring the arguments from both sides of the debate. At the end of the exhibition visitors entered the polling booths and vote. We also made a replica of the grilles that separated the Ladies’ Gallery in the House of Commons, to provide opportunities for ongoing engagement with visitors to the exhibition. 

This exhibition established a framework which allowed us to easily change the story over a number of years - from suffrage to socialism, then forestry to sporting life.