Rethinking Exhibition Mounts explores how bio-based materials could support more sustainable forms of museum display. Developed during a six-month PhD placement at the V&A Design Studio, the project focuses on exhibition mounts: often invisible structures that hold, support, and care for objects, but are commonly made from petrochemical materials.

Rather than proposing one fixed material, the project investigates how recipes can be tuned for strength, flexibility, stability, and conservation compatibility. The research develops alginate-based biomaterial recipes and tests their suitability for museum environments through iterative formulation and Oddy testing (a conservation test used to assess whether materials are safe for use near museum objects).

A further strand explores programmable knitted substrates as a zero-waste support system for future bio-composite mounts, combining textile fabrication with hydrogel based stiffeners.