Visitors’ viewpoints shaped how we all see an icon in this AI-powered exhibition

Blending hands-on interactivity, contemporary design and AI technology, this exhibition challenged visitors to look again at Florence Nightingale’s legacy from a modern standpoint. Who do they think she was, really? Set at Cromford Mills – birthplace of the modern factory and near Nightingale’s childhood home – the experience highlighted how public perception continually reshapes famous figures.

The centrepiece of this exhibition was an AI artwork – an image of Nightingale that changed as visitors contributed their views on her.

We created this ‘living portrait’ through extensive research and development, testing various algorithms, textual inputs and illustrative styles.

Visitors shared their thoughts via a tablet interface designed to resemble a social media platform. A Large Language Model (LLM) analysed their input in real time, extracting sentiments and updating Nightingale’s portrait with graphic elements to reflect them.

This exhibition put the visitor at the centre of a live narrative – but one rooted in our robust historical research.

Our research traced the evolution of Nightingale’s image over generations, right up to the present. She has been seen as an angel for her compassionate care of the sick, a hero for risking her life during the Crimean War, a feminist for breaking barriers in male-dominated fields, and a rebel for her constant commitment to social reform.

These four archetypal labels – Angel, Hero, Feminist and Rebel – became the structure of the exhibition. Visitors were invited to consider and question them. Did Florence Nightingale embody all, some or none of these labels? How far did her own words align with each? And what would we have done if we had been in her shoes?

By juxtaposing idealised portraits with candid images and interactive tasks, we illuminate the space between Nightingale’s myth and the person she was, between the legend and her real-life story.

– The Legend: Iconic portraits, memorable quotations and visitor-contributed impressions paint how Nightingale has been cast as angel, hero, feminist or rebel.

– The Woman: Genuine photographs, excerpts from her letters and hands-on stations – design a field hospital plan or sketch a coxcomb mortality chart – immerse you in Nightingale’s real-world impact.

Walking distance from Nightingale’s childhood home, Cromford Mills – part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to the world’s first water-powered cotton-spinning mill – was the ideal setting for this exhibition. But the gallery space, in a historic Grade II listed building, presented a series of logistical and design challenges for us to respond to creatively.

Most significantly, the space had no temperature and humidity controls, making it unsuitable for displaying collection objects, and its limited security meant valuable items couldn’t be safely exhibited. With a modest budget of under £100,000 and an ambitious concept, our team had to innovate to create an authentic and powerful visitor experience without any historic artefacts.

Additionally, nothing could be attached to the walls or ceiling of the space, so we devised a flexible, non-invasive design. The small size of the space also called for careful planning to ensure full physical accessibility.

We worked closely with a skilled technical team of 3D designers and fabricators, alongside creative coders, to develop both physical and digital R&D solutions. This interdisciplinary approach enabled us to push creative boundaries, all while working within the project’s tight constraints.

This was an exhibition about Florence Nightingale, but it was also a new methodology for encountering the past – one that acknowledges legacy as a fluid construct, continually redefined by collective memory across time and place. Through it, Nightingale became a case study demonstrating that history is not fixed but instead layered, contested and open to reinterpretation. The stories we inherit about the past are never singular, but deeply dependent on the cultural lenses through which we view them.