A Question in Many Hands: fragments of evidence from the Gendered City is a mixed-media collage developed from my doctoral research on women’s experiences of public space in Milan, focusing on the areas around Stazione Centrale and Stazione Garibaldi.

 

During one-to-one interviews, I invited participants to respond visually to a question: “How do you think women’s bodies, fear and public spaces are connected?” Each participant could choose how to respond, creating an image or selecting an existing one. Their contributions included drawings, conceptual maps, photographs and self-portraits, as well as AI-generated images. These materials opened up further conversations about everyday experiences of the city and the meanings participants attached to their bodies in public space.

 

I later curated these contributions into a single postcard-collage, arranged as a small atlas of perspectives and experiences. The work brings accounts of fear and constraint into conversation with practices of care and ways of taking up space. It also explores how materials produced during research can reach new audiences and invite interpretations beyond the interview setting.

 

The collage has been selected for “OUT-OF-MAP: Feminist Narratives of Public Space”, a collective exhibition organised by RHIZOMA Design and Research Lab. It will be shown at Centre Cívic Sagrada Família in Barcelona from 8 October to 7 November 2026, as part of the Barcelona 2026 World Capital of Architecture programme.