Australia – Not much has been known about the offshore detention centres hosted by the Australian government and the numerous atrocities it has committed–as the freedom to document these realities has long been taken away from reporters and journalists. With that being said, how can those who suffered prove in court said injustices?
Enter social justice law firm Maurice Blackburn, who has worked alongside Australian creative agency Howatson+Company, to utilise artificial intelligence (AI) to create the first visual evidence of Australian-initiated atrocities in Papua New Guinea and Nauru–as told by those who survived in these detention centres.
To make this possible, the law firm has recorded more than 300 hours of interviews conducted with survivors of offshore detention, putting on record the injustices they faced. Together with AI technicians, the survivors then generated the first ever visual evidence of their experiences. From the colour of the tents to the subjects’ expressions, every detail was made as accurately as possible.
The law firm has also worked with Mridula Amin, three-time Walkley photojournalism award winner, who has remarked that this project is one of the first applications of AI that she has seen with an ethical purpose at its heart.
“When watching the images being created, it was incredible to see the level of detail and care taken, and the multiple prompts required to produce an as accurate depiction of the witness statements as possible, including working with the witnesses themselves,” Amin said.
Aside from creating a special campaign site, the images and statements have also been compiled into a book, and displayed at a powerful exhibition held in the Immigration Museum in Melbourne, created by installation artist James Dive of Scoundrel.
The evidence has been further shared with the public through OOH and social media, whilst the images have been uploaded to editorial site Shutterstock to sit alongside photojournalism.
For Jennifer Kanis, principal lawyer at Maurice Blackburn, these witness statements and images shine a light on a dark chapter of Australian history, adding that they bear witness to the unimaginable inhumanity experienced by the women, men and children incarcerated over many years.
“Along with our clients, it’s our hope that this collection of witness statements and the associated AI images serve as a permanent record and an urgent case for change to Australians and our government,” Kanis said.
Meanwhile, Gavin Chimes, executive creative director at Howatson+Company, commented, “It was a humbling and harrowing experience to work one-on-one with survivors of offshore detention. Nearly a year in the making, we took the utmost care to ensure their experiences were accurately depicted, with some images taking weeks to complete.”
He added, “On behalf of Howatson+Company, we thank Maurice Blackburn and more importantly their clients, whose stories can now be told for the first time, and in a new way. We hope Exhibit A-i contributes to genuine hope for change on what has been a dark and horrific time in Australian history.”
