LAYERS: LOOKING INSIDE HMP HOLLOWAY is an immersive exhibition of photographic portraits, letters and filmed testimonies that reveals the breadth of lives touched by the criminal justice system - showcasing 30 former prisoners, of different ages, races and classes. It launched with a 5 day run at South London’s Copeland Gallery in March 2023. In 2023, Holloway Prison - once the largest women’s prison in Europe - was demolished. Before the bulldozers arrived, thirty former prisoners chose to return to the now crumbling site to tell their stories. LAYERS is the culmination of a year-long community project giving former prisoners access to the empty site in a therapeutic and trauma-informed way. It was run by Daddyless Daughters whose founder of DD Aliyah Ali is herself a former Holloway Prisoner and Powerplay Productions. 

 

Our group of contributors are artists, funeral directors, mums, CEOs, activists, boxers. They are each on a unique journey. But taken together, their stories reveal the systemic patterns of trauma, poverty, and abuse that disproportionately impact women in prison: nearly 60% of women in prison have experienced domestic violence, and 53% experienced emotional, physical or sexual abuse as a child.

 

Created in collaboration with our participants, this exhibition explores survival, loss, addiction, trauma, and also safety, recovery, connection and sisterhood. It is founded on the belief that incarcerated women are routinely punished by the system for their vulnerabilities and disadvantages due to the trauma they have experienced.