30 Objects Representing Justice

Monday 28 July 2025 - March 2026

FREE

Chosen by staff and the communities they work with to celebrate our 30th anniversary, 30 Objects Representing Justice invites you to explore what justice looks like through a powerful selection of 30 artefacts from the National Justice Museum’s collection. Spanning over 800 years, the objects range from the everyday to the extraordinary: a 1790 lease listing enslaved Africans, leather handcuffs used on women, and a half-used bottle of brandy given to those awaiting execution. Some objects have never been on display to the public before.

Each object offers a window into a particular moment in justice history, revealing how ideas of power, law, resistance, and humanity have intersected. Some highlight who holds authority and who is excluded from justice, while others reflect compassion, reform, and the efforts of communities to challenge injustice.

This exhibition explores justice through legal, social, and cultural lenses, showing how its meaning has continually evolved and remains contested today. Stories of marginalised voices, inequality, and resilience sit beside symbols of state control and protest.

Justice, Together: Community Voices in Co-Production

Co-production is central to the Creative Programme at the National Justice Museum. By working collaboratively with communities, we foster the exchange of ideas, encourage cohesion, and build a shared vision that allows us to explore the themes of our collection in holistic and meaningful ways. 30 Objects Representing Justice is no exception. We are incredibly humbled and grateful for the insight, creativity, and generosity of our community partners: Refugee Roots, Angolan Women’s Voices, The Legacy Makers, Nottingham Women’s Centre, and Stone Soup. Throughout the exhibition, you will encounter powerful creative interpretations of justice past, present, and imagined for the future.