2020 Vision: 100 Years of Justice

Overview

The Magistrates Association is seeking 20 artists from across England and Wales for their 2020 Vision: 100 Years of Justice exhibition. This exhibition is celebrating the centenary of the organisation and will travel to 4 locations: Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff and London. After the exhibition ends, the works will be permanently displayed at the Magistrates Association head office in London and their branches across the country.

About the exhibition

MA have back issues of MAGISTRATE magazine, in its varying incarnations, dating back to its initial publication in 1921. These magazines chart almost 100 years in criminal justice and contain a history of the life and times of England & Wales. 

This archive forms the foundation of the exhibition, as it will be both a retrospective of 100 years of the history of justice in the UK, and a gaze into the future. Selections of the magazines will be displayed alongside original artwork in response to 10 key themes.

The 10 themes are topical issues around which both legislation and societal attitudes have evolved considerably in the last century, and might conceivably evolve even further. These are:

1. Rights of the child  
2. Gender and the justice system
3. The role of prison in society
4. Ownership of information
5. Race and criminal justice
6. LGBT+ rights 
7. Freedom of expression  
8. Freedom of association
9. Victims’ rights
10. The concept of justice

Each artist will select a theme they want to respond to, and select whether they are looking at the past 100 years on the topic, or imagining the future. 

The brief

You can submit an existing work (if it responds to one of the themes) or you can create a completely new piece. Detailed information on all the themes is at the end of the document. 

Size: We ask that the work you produce is no smaller than 30cmx40cm and no larger than 120cmx120cm.

Medium: You can use a medium of your choice, however the work must be 2D and able to hang on a wall (ie. no sculpture, performance, video or installation etc will be considered). We will be happy to consider painting, drawing, serigraphs, embroidery, tapestry, photography, etc. 

Budget: We offer an all-inclusive honorarium of £500 for successful completion of the piece and framing of the work. 

Paintings on stretched canvases do not need to be framed. We will cover the delivery of the work to London.