This is Camp X-Ray is an art installation created by the artist Jai Redman, a member of the Ultimate Holding Company (UHC) art collective. [1] The installation was a full-scale replica of part of the United States military Guantanamo Bay detainment camp, [2] and featured actors performing the roles of guards and prisoners in cells and interrogation rooms, as well as demonstration of known interrogation techniques. [2]
This is Camp X-Ray was constructed in the Hulme area of the city of Manchester [3] and was operational from Friday 10 October to Saturday 18 October 2003. Costing approximately £3000, the Arts Council England covered [1] half the cost.[ citation needed]
Due to the political nature of the project, the installation received a few complaints including from Conservative party MP Andrew Rosindell, and David Lee the editor of the arts newspaper The Jackdaw. Lee said "This is simply a reconstruction, it is bald documentary and has nothing to do with art. The Arts Council supports this kind of stuff rather than supporting good art. It is both corrupt and corrupting."[ citation needed]
A DVD video documenting the live installation, entitled This is Camp X-Ray: Manchester Responds To Injustice With Art, by Damien Mahoney was released in December 2004. [4] The DVD includes an interview with the sisters of Jamal Udeen Al-Harith, a Manchester resident who was detained in the real Camp X-Ray for two and a half years without charge. [5]
References
- ^ a b Ward, David (11 October 2003). "Guantanamo Bay prison recreated as northern art". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
- ^ a b "Camp X-Ray comes to Manchester". BBC News. 10 October 2003. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
- ^ "Eerie reality of X-Ray's cousin". BBC News. 12 October 2003. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
- ^ "Film highlights Guantanamo disgrace". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
- ^ "Ultimate Holding Company". www.uhc.org.uk. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2008.