SoulsINQUEST

SoulsINQUEST uses photography and writing as a lens onto state violence, death, grief, and resistance. The exhibition is an embodiment of family resistance that refuses to be silenced, misrepresented, or forgotten and a powerful act of defiance in response to decades of injustice. It is a collaboration between eighteen members of bereaved families, photographer Sarah Booker and INQUEST – an organisation which provides specialist, comprehensive advice on contentious state related deaths and their investigation. 

Founded in 1981 by bereaved families and campaigners, INQUEST is the only organisation in England and Wales that provides a specialist, comprehensive advice service on contentious state related deaths and their investigation. In recent years, INQUEST has been supporting the families of Katie Allan and Sheku Bayoh as part of a wider examination of the post-death processes in Scotland. As part of INQUEST’s anniversary project – Unlocking the Truth for 40 Years – Sarah worked alongside eighteen family members, all of whom have been traumatically bereaved due to state violence. Together, they created eighteen visual and textual works. 

SoulsINQUEST demonstrates that creative co-production is a powerful tool for families to take control of their stories and challenge harmful and misleading public assertions made about their loved ones. We invite you to join in this creative moment to publicly reflect on family voice in the fight for justice. The exhibition is presented alongside a series of events, including a panel discussion, film screening and workshop.

The first iteration of this project took place at 198 Contemporary Art and Learning and was curated by Languid Hands.

Film Screening
The UK is Not Innocent: the story of INQUEST

3:30pm, 19 June 2024

The UK is Not Innocent is a 45-minute documentary film made by Rainbow Collective as part of INQUEST’s 40 Years heritage project. The film traces INQUEST’s evolution from a grassroots collective of families bereaved by state-related deaths to an established charity providing expertise on deaths in custody, exposing forty years of state violence and resistance in England and Wales.

The film screening will be followed by a Q&A
Running order:
3.30pm – 4.15pm – film
4.15pm - 5pm– Q&A

Tickets available here

Panel Discussion
SoulsINQUEST

6pm, 19 June 2024

Featuring: • Aamer Anwar (Lawyer) • Sarah Armstrong (Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research / Glasgow University) • Betsy Barkas (Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research / Glasgow University) • Deborah Coles (Director, INQUEST)

A panel discussion event that will ask the question: Why do deaths in custody matter in Scotland?? Scotland is a country that prides itself on its strong record of human rights, but the experiences of those who have died in custody and detention, and of their families, tell a different story. From the killing of Sheku Bayoh in police custody in Kirkcaldy in 2015 to Katie Allan’s death in Polmont YOI in 2018, this panel will discuss Scottish state violence, the failures to meaningfully investigate these deaths and campaigns for change that have arisen in response. Our panel of academic, legal and campaign experts will explain the current state of play in Scotland, the impact of social and racial injustice, and the power of resistance through the courts, parliament, media, universities and the importance of working alongside families bereaved by state violence.