For over ten years, people seeking asylum in Australia by boat have been stopped by the Australian Navy & sent to offshore detention centres in Nauru, Manus Island & Papua New Guinea. They wait indefinitely to be processed, held in privately-owned prisons. Cameras & journalists are banned. Guards are all-powerful. Neither the public nor politicians know what occurs inside, leading to atrocities that have been hidden from view.

Australia’s leading social justice law firm, Maurice Blackburn, had been running a class action lawsuit on behalf of survivors against the government, arguing that indefinite offshore detention should be unlawful. Unfortunately, in 2021, due to a change in the law, the case was dismissed. However, Maurice Blackburn still believed survivors’ stories deserved to be heard. Their brief was to create widespread awareness of the atrocities survivors experienced to try to use these stories to provoke policy change discussions.

Exhibit A-i doesn’t use AI for tech’s sake, but to generate visual evidence of injustices that occurred in Australia's offshore detention facilities. Places where cameras & journalists are banned.

There are two important art directional elements to consider. First is the AI imagery. 300 hours of interviews were conducted with survivors, who then worked with AI technicians to create visualisations of their experiences. Every detail was made as accurate as possible, from the colour of the tents to the subjects’ facial expressions. While photojournalists were consulted to ensure the images had the same composition & quality as real photography.

We then compiled survivors’ images & words into a book, which was submitted to members of parliament & journalists. It featured striking & minimal design, reflecting official government reports throughout history. Our intention was to print a book that felt significant & wouldn’t be lost amongst the clutter of officials’ desks.

In 10+ years, over 4,183 people seeking asylum have been processed through Australian offshore detention. Many are not granted permanent visas afterwards, meaning they live in fear of deportation.

Nauru remains Australia’s sole offshore processing centre, after the detention centre on Manus Island was ruled unlawful and ordered to be shut down by that country’s supreme court.

As of 28 February 2023, there were 1,099 people in detention facilities. This included 1,050 men and approximately 47 women.

They live in fear of violence.

Those who were released are afraid they’ll face retribution for speaking out.

So we helped these survivors tell their stories anonymously for the first time, to show the world what happens in offshore detention in excruciating and confronting detail.