The Sardines

Our project investigates how women can reclaim spatial boundaries in public spaces and how this retrieval materialises through physical objects and environments. We explore the critical questions:

• How can design and artistic interventions redefine boundaries for safety and empowerment?
• In what ways do physical spaces and objects shape gendered experiences, and how can they be reimagined to foster agency and awareness?

There is an undeniable issue surrounding women’s safety — or even just the perception of safety — in public spaces. With ongoing challenges to women’s rights worldwide, the need to claim space has never been more urgent.

When safety feels uncertain — whether on the way home, at work, or in public areas — movements become restricted. Boundaries shrink, and daily life is confined, reinforcing a cycle of limitation and vulnerability.

Through the performance, we realised how often we overlook the importance of personal space in daily life. We wanted to show how fragile personal bubbles are and how they’re often violated in public spaces. However, our project, The Sardines, took a different direction.

Instead of showing these spaces being crushed, we explored how to defend them. Like a pufferfish, our sardines expanded to appear bigger, keeping others away. This shift gave us a new understanding of how we respond to and protect our personal space.