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.

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."

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

  1. 1 2 Ward, David (11 October 2003). "Guantanamo Bay prison recreated as northern art". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Camp X-Ray comes to Manchester". BBC News. 10 October 2003. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  3. ↑ "Eerie reality of X-Ray's cousin". BBC News. 12 October 2003. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  4. ↑ "Film highlights Guantanamo disgrace". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  5. ↑ "Ultimate Holding Company". www.uhc.org.uk. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2008.

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