The War Rooms

The new Emily Hobhouse museum is built at the birthplace of Emily Hobhouse at St Ive in England. It represents a thoughtful and holistic approach to the site and highlights its cultural importance.

Life of a humanitarian

Emily Hobhouse was a human rights campaigner and a feminist and is best known for her campaigns against the terrible and inhumane conditions inside British camps in South Africa during the Boer War. She spent a considerable amount of time in the camps distributing much-needed supplies and talking to other women about the harsh conditions. Returning to England, she eventually persuaded the British government to set up a committee of inquiry.

Central in the museum are the characters that bring the story of the Anglo Boer War and Emily Hobhouse as close as possible. Visitors will feel part of the experience.

Walking through various rooms, you’ll meet characters from England and South Africa – on the land, in their kitchen, the pub, or the salon. You’ll see and hear how the Boer War slowly becomes inevitable and breaks. Later, you’ll accompany Emily Hobhouse on a train to the camps in South Africa.

The story of the pond

YIPP developed the ‘Story of the pond’. This interactive story takes place on the outskirts of the camp, at a water pool, a place used for washing and cooking. YIPP created the interactive projection that can be found here.
Your projected shadow appears as you approach the pond and is then connected to one of four topics. Each story tells you about water-related situations in the camp that affect your body, such as diseases, food rations, or the quality of drinking water.

It becomes painfully clear and palpable how much water and food humans need, and how little those in the camp were given.

YIPP connected the interactive to the audio zones visitors walk in and out of. It meant a lot to be part of creating an optimal visitor experience and to bring this intense and harrowing story to life.


Would you like to know more about this project or do you need help with a similar project? Get in touch with Wouter van der Zouwe (wouter.vanderzouwe@yipp.nl).