You’ll Know It When You Feel It

A socially engaged art project resisting bureaucratic representations of women whose lives intersect with the prison industrial complex.

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, this intimate work has emerged over fifteen years alongside several women in her life. From six-minute phone calls to handwritten letters that circulate between Rosella, her friends, family members, and loved ones, the multi-authored exhibition You’ll Know It When You Feel It examines the value of their co-created archive as a site of resistance.

Presented in partnership with Sisters Inside, You’ll Know It When You Feel It will be accompanied by a series of community-engaged programs led by contemporary Meriam/Munbarra artist and prison abolitionist Boneta-Marie Mabo.

Join Boneta-Marie Mabo and fellow artist and prison abolitionist Ruby Wharton on Saturday 20 May for a free workshop to reimagine our communities through creative approaches to poetry, poster making, and prison abolition at the Institute of Modern Art.

The IMA Courtyard will be activated with a new banner made by women and girls supported by prison-advocacy organisation Sisters Inside. A second venue, at Fortitude Valley State Secondary College, which can be accessed outside school hours, will display posters made by students.