Why do we all feel so weird about money? That’s the question that a new exhibition running at Brewer Street Shop, from Thurs Sept 9 to Sat Sept 11, asks.
A collaboration between Lloyds Bank and ethnographer Paula Zuccotti, the show’s aim is to dig into the real stories behind a study the bank did recently. It showed that only half of Brits check their bank statements every week, despite financial wellbeing being more important to our mental health than physical or social wellbeing.
The way they’re doing it? By asking a group of volunteers to share their monthly bank statements and turning the lists of purchases into artworks. How will it feel for the participants to see their spending laid bare? Will it encourage us all to be a bit more open about our spending habits?
The bank says that by displaying visual representations of people’s spending, it hopes that the exhibition will help people to think a bit more about where their money’s going – and develop a better relationship with money. Even if it doesn’t achieve that, it’s a chance to have a nosey into the financial lives of other people – juicy stuff.
One of the volunteers involved? Er... Me. (I’ll admit to being pretty nervous about revealing my spending habits to the world, especially after coming out of lockdown a fully-fledged online shopping fiend.)