As the UK’s separation from the EU gets closer, the exhibition: ‘What Does Brexit Mean to You?’ highlights the UK complicated socio-political history within the EU, and the opinions or justifications from both sides of the argument. The exhibition aims to allow attendees to reflect on their own opinions on Brexit while understanding what led to where we are today.
As you walk into the exhibition area, the gigantic screen to the far right immediately catches your eye. A range of features show up from archival photos of activists advocating for the UK to the EU to current opinions of LSE staff following the referendum.
Overall, the exhibition perfectly captures the varied opinions, justifications and criticisms of both stances of Brexit. There is a podium split into Remain and Leave, present newspaper articles, pictures of key historical figures and opinion pieces from various actors (students, environmental activists, politicians and so forth) supporting the stances chosen.
Generation Brexit is also a big part of the exhibition. While the platform acts as a way of incorporating millennials into Brexit talks, key opinions from across different European countries are discussed. Simply, it emphasises how influential youth are in contributing to the conversation.
Finally, a space to the left offers students to express their opinions on the subject. From notes such as “let’s vote again” and “Brexit equals racism” highlighting their disgust for the outcome to ones such as “freedom” supporting the result, opinions of Brexit are associated with much passion. Sahib Riyat, an undergraduate Law student, was visiting the exhibition at the time and noted how many of these opinions were associated with “emotions expressed more than economic or political concerns”. He also found it curious how “mostly ‘remainers’ voiced concerns and it seems as though most of LSE disagreed with the vote”.
This LSE Library exhibition is located at the entrance of the library and is available until the 14th of December.
