The undergraduate module at the University of Exeter Law, Testimony and Trauma examines the ways by which legal systems respond to traumatic events or traumatic realities. Led by Dr Natalie Ohana, it interrogates the roles legal systems play in sustaining or enabling the change of conditions responsible for the occurrence of trauma. The students conduct individual research projects in which they investigate the legal responses to trauma, by firstly understanding the survivor(s)’s knowledge on the trauma, and then comparing that knowledge to the knowledge that became the accepted one in the legal proceeding. They ask: 'Is the survivors’ knowledge the same as the legal knowledge? If a gap between them exists, what legal mechanisms enable it to exist? What are its implications?'

In academic year 2022-2023, artist Tom Stockley as part of his Arts and Culture Creative Fellowship, joined the module's seminars, listened to the students’ presentations and had conversations with them about their projects. Through Tom’s questions the students were invited to think about their project from a different perspective and become more aware of its importance.

The collaboration allowed Tom and Dr Ohana to engage in conversations and explore the connecting points of their ideas, between the political dimension of trauma and denial, communities and resistance.

It was thanks to Tom’s participation in the module and knowing that they have the experience of working with communities to express, through art, social and political ideas, that Dr Ohana felt that the last seminar for the students could be dedicated to expressing their research projects and the process of conducting it, through a collage.

Dr Ohana explained the effect of this intervention:

Below are examples of the collages the students made:

Suchita Tamang

Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan’s military sexual slavery, Tokyo 2000 Japan. The Hague 2001.

Collage on paper

2022

"Conducting my research project for this module was a memorable and illuminating experience. It made me think about the link between law and trauma at a much deeper level, recognising how important survivors and their knowledge are in exposing oppression. With my project being on Japan’s sexual slavery system in the First World War, I saw the impact Japanese imperialism had in creating and sustaining oppressive systems that preyed and exploited the vulnerable.

For me, the survivor testimonies will probably be the most difficult thing I will ever read. Through their testimonies, the horrific atrocities that were inflicted upon them, as well as their pain and suffering, was conveyed so strongly. This showed me how important it is for the voices of the victims to be heard in legal proceedings; societies will only be able to understand and dismantle the oppressive systems that habituate traumatic events through survivors’ knowledge and voices.

Additionally, survivors also conveyed their testimonial experience through art, and I was able to explore a different way many voiced their experience. Analysing and understanding many of the art pieces was a great way to see and understand the women, as well as seeing the way they viewed themselves and the imperial army. The main one I included in my essay was Duk-kyung Kang’s Stolen Innocence, which highlighted the vulnerability and shame the women felt as well as the power imbalance between the soldiers and the women. Thus, when we got the opportunity to create a collage for the module, I thought it was a great opportunity to symbolise and reflect upon the project through an artistic and creative way. Overall, I really enjoyed this process, and it was a memorable experience."

Suchita Tamang

Rebecca French

Re: Dobbs v.Jackson that overruled Roe v Wade. US Supreme Court, 2022.

Collage on paper

2022

"The above collage is an amalgamation of my thoughts and feelings around the overturning of the iconic Roe v Wade judgement by the U.S. Supreme Court and the the huge effect this will have on the rights of women around the world.

I made use of various iconic artwork within this piece, snippets of the poem, ‘The Melancholy Life of Woman,’ stand next to the ripped out front page of, ‘The Handmaids Tale.’ Both drawing on similar Dystopian themes around what the effect of this court case could and will have on women’s fundamental human rights.

The use of floor plans from an Anthony Gormley exhibit hint at the idea of, ‘the room where it happens,’ and the lack of women in positions making these decisions with his famous, ‘Iron Baby,’ depicting a life sized baby, seemingly abandoned. The imagery the opposition used to try counter the upholding of Roe v Wade and abortion rights, ironic given the number of children given up for adoption or abandoned will certainly increase in a world with reduced pregnancy care and options.

The use of Mark Rothko’s work is based on his focus on creating a feeling of, ‘being trapped in a room,’ evoking the trapped feeling thousands of women in America are currently feeling given this decision.

There are a number of other miscellaneous links, a ripped birth control box, some comments from magazines and books including Themis the Greek personification of Justice which all come together to attempt to organise the feelings, mainly anger, that this decision evoke for me personally."

Rebecca French

Olivia Kowalczyk

The trial of the lynching of Emmett Till, 1955, Mississippi, US.

Collage on paper

2022

Elicia Prince

The Cardiff Five, Wales, 1988

Collage on Paper

2022

"This collage represents the themes at play in the Cardiff Five trial and the trauma that followed. I utilised a lot of black and white imagery to represent the separate treatment of the black victims throughout the trial, and I explicitly included the word ‘race’ to encapsulate the structures of racial oppression which culminated in the trauma in this case.

The artwork relating to snakes reflects feelings of manipulation and exploitation of the suspect, who is trapped in the bath so unable to escape. The fact that many snakes are present only illuminates the systemic treatment of the victims, who are effectively manipulated by many and not few. I added the artwork which says, ‘we get inside the head of the boy king’, to really emphasise the extent of mental torture going on during this case.

Finally, I added a piece relating to innocence and guilt because I wanted to show how fragile this dichotomy was in the case. Although 3/5 of the suspects were convicted as guilty, they were innocent. The conclusion of their guilt was predetermined by societal structures.

Utilising artwork to visually display the trauma was a powerful and insightful way to express all of the nuanced emotions at play. Overall, I also found it really helpful to conceptualise all of my feelings as well whilst researching the trauma."

Elicia Prince