Open call for artwork! We invite UK-based artists with experience of migration to submit artwork by 30th August, for the chance to win one of 3 prizes and have your work displayed in the Taking Liberties exhibition in London this autumn. Details and submission form here.
This autumn, the Migrants Organise Abolish Reporting London campaign is working with Bail for Immigration Detainees to put on an exciting exhibition called Taking Liberties: Detention, Reporting, and Resistance. Led and curated by people with experience of detention and reporting, the exhibition explores the realities of the UK’s immigration system through art and storytelling, and aims to amplify resistance and build solidarity. Ahead of the public launch, we’re looking for UK-based migrant artists to submit their work by 30th August! Three selected works will receive a monetary prize and be displayed in the exhibition in London this autumn.
Open Call for Artwork: Submit by 30th August
We welcome submissions from people who are 18 or older, based in the UK, with some experience of migration, however this may look for you. It is not a requirement to share your experiences, although we will ask if it aids in contextualising your work and your submissions. You do not need to be a professional artist to submit works.
The deadline to submit work is 30th August. Entries will be judged by the exhibition steering group and curator. We will notify the selected artists by the week commencing 31st of August, and will need artwork to be delivered to London (we will cover transport expenses) by mid-September.
Three selected works will receive monetary prizes (the three prizes amounts are £500, £250, and £250) and will be displayed at the in-person exhibition in London, October 2026. Selected artists will be invited to attend an opening event, with reasonable travel costs covered.
About the Taking Liberties Exhibition
The Taking Liberties exhibition aims to challenge narratives and policies that dehumanise, isolate and criminalise people because of their immigration status. It centres the leadership, creativity, and resistance of people with lived experience, exposing the daily violence of detention and reporting and challenging the myths that uphold it.
The project is led by a steering group of individuals with experience of the hostile environment, facilitated by Bail for Immigration Detainees and Migrants Organise. Taking Liberties builds on previous exhibitions from the Abolish Reporting campaign in collaboration with Bail for Immigration Detainees (such as Stop Watching Us! 2022) and aims to bring our community’s stories, visions, and demands to a broader public audience.
The aim of the exhibition is to amplify resistance and build our movement to end immigration detention and reporting!
The exhibition will include infographic panels, short films, first-hand audio testimonies, protest photography, personal artefacts, community artwork, and archival materials that offer personal perspectives on the system and how communities are resisting. We will also feature materials from Ghosts of Yarl’s Wood (on loan from the National Justice Museum) and images by award-winning photojournalist Greg Constantine.
The Abolish Reporting campaign is organising for a world built on principles of care, not surveillance. Get in touch for support organising locally to Abolish Reporting, or check out resources to challenge reporting here!
