Toured

2008

Locations

Northern Territory: Alice Springs, Darwin, Katherine and Tennant Creek

About the poster

Locked Inside explored the notion of detention and freedom through a series of life-sized padlocks and children’s artworks. The exhibition was curated by artist Ibtihal Samarayi who drew upon her experiences as an Iraqi refugee living in Iranian and Turkish refugee camps prior to migrating to Australia.

The exhibition also featured documentation from detainees such as identity cards, letters and photographs and artefacts from Australian detention centres. The works by children who were experiencing life in detention gave an insight into their world view of living behind razor wire.

The detainees’ experiences need to be communicated to the public and I feel a deep responsibility as an Iraqi refugee to support them. My own work comes from my experiences as an Iraqi artist who lived in refugee camps in Iran and Turkey before gaining a permanent visa in Australia, and thus did not experience detention in Australia.

Ibtihal Samarayi