Across the globe, demands are growing for a society in which prisons and policing are no longer the default solution to social, economic, and political issues in our communities.

Systems of surveillance, classification, and control extend beyond prison walls, parole boards, and courtrooms. They are embedded in the bureaucratic procedures, documents, and archives that record an individuals’ lived experiences. Unveiling the ineptitude of ‘official records’, You’ll Know It When You Feel It is a socially engaged art project that seeks to resist bureaucratic representations of women whose lives intersect with the prison-industrial complex.

Co-created by Brisbane based artist Raphaela Rosella with women in her life that have experienced incarceration, this intimate work has emerged over fifteen years. Including photographs, recordings of six-minute phone calls from prison, and handwritten letters that circulated between Rosella, friends, and family, this multi-authored exhibition examines the value of this co-created archive as a site of resistance.

Presented in partnership with advocacy organisation Sisters Inside, You’ll Know It When You Feel It will be accompanied by a community-engaged public program–including performances, panel discussions, artist talks, and creative workshops. Led by contemporary Meriam/Munbarra artist and prison abolitionist Boneta-Marie Mabo, the program will provide a platform for criminalised and formerly incarcerated individuals, artists, activists, and scholars to explore how art can challenge and resist the carceral state.