TJFest is an abolitionist community arts, culture and knowledge festival by the Transformative Justice Collective. Events will take place in the first three weekends of July: 1–2 July, 8–9 July, and 15–16 July.
Abolition is as much a project of collective re-imagination, experimentation and creation as it is a project of dismantling oppressive systems of surveillance and punishment. It is equal parts hope and rage, with space for both despair and dreaming, protest and play, resistance and rebuilding.
This is the spirit we hope to capture in the name of this year’s inaugural festival — “Breaking Chains: Towards Gentler Futures”. Over three weekends in July, we will have experiential workshops, film screenings, storytelling, music, poetry, talks, activity booths, panel discussions, a dance party, and community conversations over food and drink.
The sessions, lovingly put together by TJC’s different working groups, centre the voices and lived realities of those most impacted by state violence, incarceration and murder. They explore the power that can be unleashed when we turn towards the wisdom of our individual and collective pain.
We’ve aspired to create honest portals where each of us can confront our deepest longings and our most audacious dreams for connection, abundance, safety and care. In doing so, we remember those who have lost too much, and honour the injustices they have suffered.
TJFest — for freedom, for dream-building, for a glimpse of possible futures. Come and play.
Events
TJFest events will be spread across three venues and three weekends in July! Check them out below (sorted by venue):
Venue 1: The Arts and Civil Space (TACS)
10 Ubi Crescent, #07-96, Ubi Techpark (Lobby E), Singapore 408564
For Sale: Objects Other Than Our Bodies
All day (2:00pm–9:00pm)
We brought ex-prisoners together through a series of workshops and invited them to select objects which reflected their experiences before, during and after prison. They shared stories with each other and us about the common objects found in prison. Some of the questions we asked were: what was life in Changi prison like? What does it mean to live life in Singapore as an ex-prisoner? How did prison shape your worldview and outlook on life? Come and encounter the stories that bring these inanimate objects alive. The items they’ve offered will be available for sale. Visit the ‘shop’ to find out why they decided to put a price tag to these items, and what the price means to them.
Towards Gentler Futures
All day (2:00pm–9:00pm)
The Towards Gentler Futures booth is a reflective and interactive space to explore how we can co-create futures without punishment and surveillance. We’ll be sharing resources and toolkits for practising Transformative Justice, which includes literature on facilitating interventions and case studies of different restorative and transformative justice experiments. There will also be abolitionist t-shirts and stickers for sale, as well as some reflective prompts for festival participants to co-create a community art installation that will be on display at the festival. Come to our booth to flip through books, to get your hands on some TJC merch, to think of gentle solutions to challenging situations, or to contribute to a big art piece!
Marked: From citizen to criminal
Sessions:
– 8 July, 2:00pm–4:00pm
– 9 July, 2:00pm–4:00pm
– 15 July, 2:00pm–4:00pm
– 16 July, 2:00pm–4:00pm
“CNB! CNB! Open up!”
What do you do? What happens next? What races through your mind?
This experiential workshop takes you through a simulated raid, followed by a court hearing and detention in a prison cell.
Created by ex-prisoners who’ve lived through these experiences, the simulation will be followed by a debrief and de-roling exercise, during which you can process your reactions. You’ll then hear from ex-prisoners about the scars that their experiences have left on them, followed by a Q&A session.
This is an intimate workshop setting with limited slots, so if you’re interested to participate, get your tickets early. Don’t forget to use the early bird promo code, “abolish” to get a 15% discount – only valid till 8 July!
Note: There will be a rest space for you to decompress, as well as care and support persons around for you to talk to if you feel overwhelmed or triggered at any point during the workshop.
Kampong Care: A cooperative survival game
Sessions:
– 8 July, 4:30pm–6:00pm
– 9 July, 4:30pm–6:00pm
– 16 July, 4:30pm–6:00pm
Come and play a survival card game created in-house @ TJC, about the ups and downs that substance users may go through, and the connection and support that helps them get through it all! It’s all about working together to ensure everyone’s well-being, so that they are able to weather the trials and tribulations of life. The game is inspired by lived experiences of people who use drugs in Singapore. Through the gameplay, players will discover how many life experiences are shared by users and non-users alike.
TJFest Launch Party!
8 July, 7:00pm–9:00pm
Join us for an exciting evening of food, drinks and music at the launch party for TJFest!
Come and find out more about TJC’s work and what possibilities there are for abolitionist futures in Singapore. Explore our booths, spend some time learning the stories of objects curated by ex-prisoners, design your own abolitionist tote bags, and help build our community art installation!
We’ll be showcasing some of our current and upcoming projects, like our #StopTheKilling campaign for a moratorium on the death penalty, our inaugural Support, Don’t Punish campaign for drug policy reform, our new working group on youth justice in Singapore, and more.
Watch performances by local artists, which you can enjoy while munching on lovingly-made food from small, home-based businesses run by women from rental flat neighbourhoods.
Support, Don’t Punish: A discussion with peers and advocates for drug policy reform
9 July, 7:00pm–9:00pm
Support. Don’t Punish is a global campaign calling for drug policies to be based on health and human rights. This year, TJC brings the campaign to Singapore for the first time. As part of our campaign efforts, this panel discussion will feature local speakers who advocate for approaches that respect the dignity and diverse needs of people who use drugs in Singapore. This includes religious leaders, peer supporters and public health scholars. The speakers will engage the audience in a discussion on how we can create communities of care around people who use drugs, and advocate for policy reforms that enable such care. At this event, we will also be launching a ground-up resource and survivors’ guide for people in recovery, or who may be in conflict with the law for drug-related charges.
Townhall: Organising against the death penalty
15 July, 11:00am–1:00pm
Since the campaign to save Nagen’s life began in 2021, many people have risen up against the death penalty in Singapore, and expressed a desire to do more to help #StopTheKilling. You’ve stood in solidarity with Datch, Kalwant, Nazeri, Tangaraju and all our other brothers and sisters on death row. You’ve watched in horror and distress as execution after execution is scheduled. If you’ve been wondering how you can get involvement with the movement for abolition, this townhall is for you.
At this townhall, we seek to mobilise our energies, map our networks and come up with a plan to collect signatures for the people’s petition for moratorium. The petition calls for all executions in Singapore to be halted while an independent review is undertaken to understand the use and impacts of the death penalty in Singapore.
At this townhall, we will be sharing outreach plans, engagement tools and skills that you can use to have constructive conversations with people around you who are on the fence about the death penalty, and move them to add their signature to the petition.
So far, we’ve collected close to 1000 physical signatures for the people’s petition! With your support, we can build on this momentum, reach new communities, and grow the movement from strength to strength.
My Prison Journey
15 July, 4:30pm–6:00pm
Meet the people behind For Sale: Objects Other Than Our Bodies. Hear why they have chosen to offer these items to us, and how they put a price to them. Learn more about the stories behind the ordinary objects found in prison, and which carry a special significance to these ex-prisoners. The ex-prisoners will be sharing their reflections on life before, during and after prison, and engaging participants in conversations around crime, punishment and rehabilitation.
Beautiful Revolutions
15 July, 7:00pm–9:00pm
As the festival pulls to a close, this gathering is an opportunity to reflect on the radical proposals of transformative justice. What would it take to make a world without prisons, police, surveillance and punishment possible? Are we capable of dreaming up and building such a world? If it feels like an absurd proposal or perhaps even a scary one, what is at the root of this fear? This event is a provocation to find out what happens if we uncuff our arrested minds. It will feature an open mic on what ‘gentler futures’ means to different people. There will be time to meditate on the reflections shared throughout the festival at our community art installation, chat with new and old friends, and explore if you’d like to get more involved with abolitionist organising.
As evening turns to night, the event will turn into a house party of sorts, with food, drinks and great music. Come and hang 😊
Cop Out!
16 July, 7:00pm–9:00pm
Do cops make you feel safe, or threatened? Whichever your answer is, have you wondered why that may be the case, and whether it’s different for other people?
Cop Out! is a critical storytelling session reflecting on encounters with policing and surveillance in Singapore.
Walking down the streets in Singapore, are you unnerved by the ever-present police cameras and warning signs? Do you feel like you’re always being watched? Are you monitored by CCTV at work? What effect does that have on you? Or maybe you get stopped and screened regularly at the MRT or other street stops by auxillary police?
We’ll be hearing from people who’ve tried to seek help from the police in a crisis, as well as those who’ve been questioned by the police. Come with a curious, open mind and listen to their stories, then watch if they unravel or reinforce your beliefs about security and safety in the place we call home.
Venue 2: 22 Dickson Road
22 Dickson Road, Singapore 209506
Worlds Within Us: A zine workshop series
Sessions:
– 1 July, 7:30pm–9:30pm
– 2 July, 2:00pm–4:00pm
– 2 July, 7:30pm–9:30pm
Worlds Within Us is a three-part workshop series where we’ll be using the medium of zine-making to explore the multitudes of communities and worlds that exist within each of us. Over the course of the workshops, we will gradually build up the layers of our collective multiverse. How do the ways we see ourselves spill over to the ways we communicate with others? Come and join us in this intimate gathering of worlds, and let ila and gula neraka be your guides.
You can choose to attend just one workshop, or all three.
Venue 3: The Projector
6001 Beach Rd, #05-00 Golden Mile Tower, Singapore 199589
Condemned + Ayahku, Dr G (with post-screening discussion)
16 July, 1:30pm–3:20pm
For many around the world, cannabis is a plant consumed for various purposes: medical, recreational, cultural. For Don and Dr Ganja, cannabis pulled them into complex and unforgiving systems determined to kill in the name of public safety.
We bring you two short films — from Singapore and Malaysia respectively — about the death penalty and the war on drugs, through the stories of two men convicted for cannabis.
Condemned, a film by Transformative Justice Collective, tells the story of Rajkumar (Don), while Ayahku, Dr G tells the story of Amiruddin Nadarajan Abdullah (Dr Ganja). What do their stories have in common? Where do they diverge?
The film screenings will be followed by a talkback session. This screening is organised in collaboration with Freedom Film Festival Singapore.
Guilty (with post-screening discussion)
16 July, 3:40pm–6:00pm
Myuran Sukumaran was one of nine Australians convicted in Indonesia of attemping to smuggle heroin. He was executed by firing squad in April 2015. Guilty tells the story of the final 72 hours of his life, presenting an intimate portrait of the incredible artist he was.
The screening will be followed by a post-show discussion. This screening is organised in collaboration with Freedom Film Festival Singapore.
Transformative Justice Collective 