This project was about the dispute around the government scheme ‘Prevent’, which aims to encourage people to report anyone they believe appears suspicious of at risk of terrorist behaviour.
I very strongly disagree with this policy, as although I understand that there is a rise in terrorist activity and everyone needs to be vigilant, I do not believe that this should be used to justify prejudice and discrimination based on whether someone ‘looks suspicious’. This policy ends up fuelling judgement against people that are non white, and consequently, racism, segregation and and increase in islamophobia (as well as against Sikhs and Hindus). Being Indian, myself and members of my family have experienced racism especially after terrorist events have occurred, simply because we have brown skin, and the male members of my family wear turbans and have beards- these are features that people typically associate with terrorism.
As many of these were personal experiences, I was able to use this as primary research, however, I depicted them as drawings from my memory and stories from family members as I did not have any photos of these events. As with the Black history month project, I found it slightly challenging trying to photograph people as I did not want to offend them, although I did manage to take a few photos discreetly.
In my opinion, having personal experiences to draw upon for this project was really useful and it allowed me to produce some quite effective work as it is based on real, unfiltered things that have happened. However, I feel that my primary research could have been stronger if I had taken my own photos to explore this topic a bit more. I also could have taken my research further with contemporary artists that explore themes of racism and terrorism.
Through out this project, I found myself particularly drawn to eyes, and the concept of being watched, or rather the discomfort or fear of being watched and judged for being who you are. This was a key idea in my final outcome which was a PVC jacket with eyes embroidered on it and the words: STOP WATCHING ME stitched into the back. Using PVC was definitely successful (although slightly tricky to sew…), as no matter who wears it, you can see that we are all just people underneath.
After discussing the project with peers and seeing other people’s work, I realised that I should have broadened my exploration of the topic ‘Preventing Prevent’ to include more work on the preventing prevent scheme ‘Students not suspects’. This would regard the impact of the scheme prevent on students and how many universities are trying to deal with this.
an.andycaptures 