Talking Chairs

Bespoke audio furniture for schools, museums, historic buildings, theatres, festivals and the home.

I design pieces of audio furniture for public buildings. Talking Chairs were originally created for the Book Lounge at the Royal Festival Hall in 2001 and have continued to be made for a variety of locations.

Working in collaboration with specialist makers, I oversee the design and fabrication of each piece of furniture to make sure it's appropriate for the site and context.
Jane Revitt
For more details please contact information@janerevitt.co.uk

Map Action fundraising auction

This A-Z chair was auctioned to raise funds for Map Action - a charity which maps disaster zones to help relief efforts. It was donated by A-Z maps who have owned it since 2002.

Here's part of the article from the Londonist about the auction...

This unique piece of furniture was created by artist Jane Revitt for The Poetry Lounge – part of the 2002 Poetry International Festival at The Royal Festival Hall.

More than a chair covered in the A-Z map of London, it also includes loudspeakers in the wings, so you can listen to your favourite tunes.

It’s a one-off, a startling centrepiece for whatever room it ends up in, and it’s up for sale now on eBay with the auction ending on 16 December.

The chair is one of many items being auctioned by London Mapping Festival in support of MapAction.

Map cushions

July 10th
The Map Chair which featured in Hebden Bridge festival's Poetry Shop in 2004 is still in the box office and always attracts plenty of attention. For the festival this year I produced some map cushions printed with images from 1953 Ordnance Survey maps.

Designs for ordnance survey map cushions show Hebden Bridge, Hardcastle Crags and Mytholmroyd, the birthplace of Ted Hughes.

The cushions are printed on unbleached linen and white organic cotton.

Salford libraries

March 2012

"The Salford chair is still as popular as ever, my colleague has organised for it to tour around libraries in Salford after the museum exhibition finished in January, and it has been so popular, people have been waiting at the libraries for it to arrive!"

Naomi Lewis, Outreach Officer,
Salford Museum & Art Gallery

Salford Museum

January 2012
Salford Museum's chair was created for an exhibition celebrating 250 years of the nearby Bridgewater Canal. The chair was covered with fabric showing a map of the area in 1903. Voices of people recalling their memories and stories of the canal were played on the speakers.

"Jane's Story Chair has been by far the most popular and talked about part of our exhibition. Not only does it provide a visual focal point in the gallery, it is inviting and encourages people to sit, listen and slow down"

Naomi Lewis, Outreach Officer

Salford Museum & Art Gallery

Talking Chair designed for Salford Museum, with upholstery fabric showing the Bridgewater Canal

Hoyland Health Centre

January 2012
A family of chairs have been installed in the patient waiting area of the new Hoyland Centre. They were covered in fabric printed with the Ordnance Survey map of the town and surrounding areas.

The three chairs are reminisent of those in the fairy story - Goldilocks and the Three Bears. In conjunction with colourful round stools and birds on the wall, an alternative waiting area has been created to enliven visits to the building for people of all ages.

The centre combines council services, a health centre and library under one roof.

Commissioned by Beam and Barnsley Community Solutions.

St Ambrose School, Salford

December 2011
St Ambrose School is a School of Creativity. They commissioned a chair to celebrate the end of an arts project. Handwritten words written by students to describe 'creativity' were used on the fabric to cover the chair.

"We love our chair!!"

Bernadette Furey,

Head of Art,

St Ambrose School, Salford