Save for a powerful few, save for a few in authority, those seeking justice all too often find injustice. Justice for those on the margins, those who are poor, with a disability or in a minority, is all too often elusive.

justiceINjustice is a unique collaborative exhibition featuring seven contemporary Australian artists and three lawyers. Through the project lawyers and artists join forces to explore several high profile public interest cases that underline issues of injustice and marginalisation including miscarriages of justice, official corruption, wrongful detention, investigative failures and mistreatment of those on the margins.

Lawyers inhabit a world of text – written documents and words spoken in advocacy, while artists communicate through material means. There are commonalities in their respective approaches; both groups are preoccupied with framing and context, representation and appearance, and often a quest for revealing an underlying truth.

justiceINjustice will include the commissioning of six new works developed through a process of research and collaborative conversation between the artists and lawyers who have been directly involved with the particular case each artist is addressing. Case material, information about the inner workings of each case, the lawyers’ perspectives, and conversations with family members, have enabled the artists to produce deeply informed works that give audiences new ways of considering cases well known through the media.

Cases include the high profile public interest cases of Cornelia Rau, Roni Levi, Azaria Chamberlain, Eddie Russell, Kathleen Folbigg, Leanne Goodall, Robyn Hickie and Amanda Robinson. Cases have been included with the knowledge or permission of clients and/ or their family members wherever possible.

This significant project has been developed with lawyers Karen Wells, Ray Watterson and Robert Cavanagh. Cavanagh and Watterson are part of the co-founding team of the internationally acclaimed University of Newcastle Legal Centre, and are highly regarded for their public interest advocacy work. Wells developed her approach to the practice of law through working on public interest cases whilst a student at the Legal Centre.

Curated by artist and criminologist Carolyn McKay (University of Sydney Law School) in collaboration with The Lock-Up, the exhibition features artists Corinne Brittain, Rob Cleworth, Blak Douglas, John A Douglas, Leah Emery, Lezlie Tilley and Richard Lewer. Project Creative Producer, Jessi England.

justiceINinjustice continues The Lock-Up’s commitment to producing and presenting projects that connect deeply with the community and use contemporary art practices and associated programming to explore issues of social justice, history and current politics.

PROUDLY SUPPORTED
BY: The NSW Government through NSW Crown Lands and Create NSW, Headjam, The Herald, City of Newcastle and Hunter TAFE.