Pain in the bus is a travelling exhibition designed to raise awareness about chronic pain conditions. Chronic pain is something that affects over 14 million people here in the UK yet it is one of the most underfunded departments in the NHS. Chronic pain can severely impact an individual’s quality of life where every day is a struggle. Although it affects millions of people it is widely misunderstood.

I started my project off by circulating a questionnaire online aimed at chronic pain sufferers. Analysing the results of these surveys, there was three main points that became clear as a focus for my exhibition design; 82% of respondents reported a lack of understanding from those around them, 80% stated they got side effects from the medications they took for their condition and 85% wanted to find out more about support groups and alternative therapies. This shows that there is a high demand for awareness, compassion and information about chronic pain.

The exhibition has been designed within the interior of Edinburgh’s Travelling Gallery bus. This contains a variety of installations, murals and a video designed to convey the daily struggle of what it’s like living with a chronic pain condition by creating a sensory experience for the user. There is also a pop-up tent and seated area at the side of the bus where people with pain illnesses can go to get advice and support.

As part of my research for this project I also created a photo shoot to try to convey the feeling of living with a chronic pain condition which can be found on the photography tab. As well as this I created a video in collaboration with local film maker Glenn Millar which can be found below. More information about the process of this project can be found over on my blog.