Not every chair is built to be sat in.

THE BRIEF

During the COVID-19 lockdowns, stadiums across Australia fell silent as matches were played without crowds. My idea was to approach NRL to use this unprecedented moment to shine a light on another crisis happening behind closed doors: domestic violence.

THE INSIGHT

While the country focused on empty stadiums, another silence was growing inside Australian homes.

OBJECTIVE

Transform the silence of COVID-era stadiums into a powerful national conversation that encouraged Australians to recognise, discuss and act on domestic violence.

IDEA - NRL’S THE SILENT STADIUM
At a time when empty stadiums had become the defining image of the pandemic, we gave that silence a new meaning.

A single white seat, surrounded by thousands of empty black seats, became a symbol of every person affected by domestic violence and every conversation left unspoken. The public could dedicate the empty seat to someone suffering with Mental Health or who have lost the battle, all donations would go to Lifeline Australia. Local Youth groups where invited to help craft our chair.

Without adding noise, the stadium itself became the message—proving that sometimes the most powerful ideas are the quietest.

The Chair would then go on to bring awarness to youth mental health issues by appearing in other locations of emptiness, that we’re used to seeing so much life and energy.