More than 100 people attended a digital art exhibition in Coventry revealing women’s experiences of prison and criminalisation.
un:mute was launched at an open evening and talk at The Criterion Theatre in Earlsdon followed by a limited one-day viewing, as part of the University of Warwick’s 12-month City of Culture Resonate Festival.
The exhibition was comprised of compassionate yet humorous digital collages, photography and drawings unveiling the thoughts and experiences of women who have been incarcerated.
It has been created by London-born artist and teacher Laura Dean, an artist-in-residence working alongside UK academics for the Women|Theatre|Justice research project. The project examines the work of Clean Break, a women-only theatre company which grew out of a prisoner-led drama workshop in the late 1970s at HMP Askham Grange.
Laura said: “The un:mute exhibition fits perfectly as part of Resonate Festival’s Amazing Women series of events this month, as it has brought a much wider audience not only to my art practice, but to the issues the Women|Theatre|Justice project deals with. Viewers of the exhibition repeatedly said it was the art that made the wider project speak to them directly.
“To use a quote from our exhibition programme, ‘a work of art can make uncaring visible. In its emotional directness art can be necessary to the political change required to move towards a caring democracy'. My hope is that this exhibition is a worthwhile step in that direction.”
Based in London, Clean Break produces a range of productions based on women’s experience of the criminal justice system, training workshops, events and courses.
Dr Deborah Dean, Associate Professor of Industrial Relations at Warwick Business School, a former actor and singer and one the academics undertaking research for Women|Theatre|Justice, said: “The launch evening and un:mute exhibition went brilliantly with some fantastic feedback and reflections on Laura’s thought-provoking, powerful and insightful artwork.
“We were also joined by Anna Herrmann, the Joint Artistic Director of Clean Break, who talked about the story of the company and launch of its digital timeline.
“By the close of the exhibition 114 people attended, with many generously providing feedback and a written legacy. One person said they were ‘Incredibly moved’ and another said: ‘It’s a very powerful tool to spread the word’.”