The Architecture of Torture in Nauru Prison

Weapons of Slow Destruction is an interactive exhibition that reflects the interdependent connection between the individual and the collective in the context of indefinite offshore immigration detention in the Republic of Nauru. We argue that the kind of interdependent relationships inspiring this project are necessary for rigorous and robust expressions of creative resistance.

The exhibition focuses on Elahe Zivardar’s never-before-seen archive and situates it as part of a collective transnational struggle involving different groups of formerly imprisoned refugees. Their collaborations also involve diverse activists from all over the world, all committed to disrupting and dismantling Australia’s border regime and beyond.

In particular, Weapons of Slow Destruction combats silencing strategies devised by the state, media, corporations and other socio-political actors by devising new narratives, theories and approaches for exposing and transforming the complex operations of the border-industrial complex.

The preview of the exhibition was held in July 2024 at the University of Technology Sydney, with the full opening scheduled for January / February 2025.