School Shirts Art Exhibition Highlights Problem of Knife Crime in Bristol
An art exhibition showcasing school shirts emblazoned with anti-knife crime messages will go on display as part of Knife Crime Awareness Week, a BBC report said on Tuesday.
Created by young people in Bristol, the exhibition will be held at the Lord Mayor's Chapel on College Green, Bristol, from May 19 to 25.
In the 'Empty Shirts, Lost Childhoods' project, participants aged 13 to 25 were invited to decorate plain white school shirts with poetry, slogans, artwork, and memorials that reflect their feelings and experiences of knife crime.
The University of Bristol's Dr. Jade Levell, who led the project, said the exhibition 'shines an important light' on young people.
Knife Crime Awareness Week, which runs from May 19 to 25, is an annual campaign by the Ben Kinsella Trust that aims to raise awareness of knife crime's devastating effects and promote preventative solutions.
Levell said: 'Writing on school shirts is a rite of passage for many young people as they graduate from formal education.'
'Children involved in youth violence often miss out on this milestone, due to being excluded from school, victims of violence, or perpetrators in custody,' she added.
The project represents the culmination of a unique creative project spearheaded by the University of Bristol in collaboration with local schools and youth organizations.
It also invites community members to respond by contributing to a 'community manifesto' that will be shared with the Bristol City Council and other partners to inform future youth violence prevention strategies.
Duncan Stanway, assistant director at Barnardo's, said: 'It is important that we listen to what young people who are affected by violence say about their lives.'
He added: 'We see too many young people who are seriously harmed through exploitation and violence.'
The initiative is part of a broader citywide effort, led by the Bristol City Office, to address serious youth violence through collaboration between community groups, academics, police, and public health bodies.
Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner Clare Moody praised the initiative, saying: 'It powerfully captures the voices and experiences of young people affected by violence.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Asharq Al-Awsat
12 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
A British TV Art Expert Who Sold Works to a Suspected Hezbollah Financier is Sentenced to Prison
An art expert who appeared on the BBC's Bargain Hunt show was sentenced Friday to two and a half years in prison for failing to report his sale of pricey works to a suspected financier of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group. At a previous hearing, Oghenochuko Ojiri, 53, had pleaded guilty to eight offenses under the Terrorism Act 2000. The art sales for about 140,000 pounds ($185,000) to Nazem Ahmad, a diamond and art dealer sanctioned by the UK and US as a Hezbollah financier, took place between October 2020 and December 2021. The sanctions were designed to prevent anyone in the UK or US from trading with Ahmad or his businesses, The Associated Press said. Ojiri, who also appeared on the BBC's Antiques Road Trip, faced a possible sentence of five years in prison in the hearing at London's Central Criminal Court, which is better known as the Old Bailey. In addition to the prison term, Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said Ojiri faces an additional year on license — a period of time after a prison sentence ends when an offender must stay out of trouble or risk going back to prison. She told Ojiri he had been involved in a commercial relationship 'for prestige and profit' and that until his involvement with Ahmad, he was 'someone to be admired.' 'You knew about Ahmad's suspected involvement in financing terrorism and the way the art market can be exploited by someone like him," she said. "This is the nadir — there is one direction your life can go and I am confident that you will not be in front of the courts again.' The Met's investigation into Ojiri was carried out alongside Homeland Security in the US, which is conducting a wider investigation into alleged money laundering by Ahmad using shell companies. 'This prosecution, using specific Terrorism Act legislation, is the first of its kind and should act as a warning to all art dealers that we can, and will, pursue those who knowingly do business with people identified as funders of terrorist groups,' said Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command. Ahmad was sanctioned in 2019 by the US Treasury, which said he was a prominent Lebanon-based money launderer involved in smuggling blood diamonds, which are mined in conflict zones and sold to finance violence. Two years ago, the UK Treasury froze Ahmad's assets because he financed Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite militant organization that has been designated an international terrorist group. Following Ojiri's arrest in April 2023, the Met obtained a warrant to seize a number of artworks, including a Picasso and Andy Warhol paintings, belonging to Ahmad and held in two warehouses in the UK The collection, valued at almost 1 million pounds, is due to be sold with the funds to be reinvested back into the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Home Office.
Arab News
a day ago
- Arab News
A British TV art expert who sold works to a suspected Hezbollah financier is sentenced to prison
Oghenochuko Ojiri, 53, had pleaded guilty to eight offenses under the Terrorism Act 2000Ojiri, who also appeared on the BBC's Antiques Road Trip, faced a possible sentence of five years in prison in the hearing at London's Central Criminal CourtLONDON: An art expert who appeared on the BBC's Bargain Hunt show was sentenced Friday to two and a half years in prison for failing to report his sale of pricey works to a suspected financier of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah a previous hearing, Oghenochuko Ojiri, 53, had pleaded guilty to eight offenses under the Terrorism Act 2000. The art sales for about 140,000 pounds ($185,000) to Nazem Ahmad, a diamond and art dealer sanctioned by the UK and US as a Hezbollah financier, took place between October 2020 and December 2021. The sanctions were designed to prevent anyone in the UK or US from trading with Ahmad or his who also appeared on the BBC's Antiques Road Trip, faced a possible sentence of five years in prison in the hearing at London's Central Criminal Court, which is better known as the Old addition to the prison term, Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said Ojiri faces an additional year on license — a period of time after a prison sentence ends when an offender must stay out of trouble or risk going back to told Ojiri he had been involved in a commercial relationship 'for prestige and profit' and that until his involvement with Ahmad, he was 'someone to be admired.''You knew about Ahmad's suspected involvement in financing terrorism and the way the art market can be exploited by someone like him,' she said. 'This is the nadir — there is one direction your life can go and I am confident that you will not be in front of the courts again.'The Met's investigation into Ojiri was carried out alongside Homeland Security in the US, which is conducting a wider investigation into alleged money laundering by Ahmad using shell companies.'This prosecution, using specific Terrorism Act legislation, is the first of its kind and should act as a warning to all art dealers that we can, and will, pursue those who knowingly do business with people identified as funders of terrorist groups,' said Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism was sanctioned in 2019 by the US Treasury, which said he was a prominent Lebanon-based money launderer involved in smuggling blood diamonds, which are mined in conflict zones and sold to finance years ago, the UK Treasury froze Ahmad's assets because he financed Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite militant organization that has been designated an international terrorist Ojiri's arrest in April 2023, the Met obtained a warrant to seize a number of artworks, including a Picasso and Andy Warhol paintings, belonging to Ahmad and held in two warehouses in the UK The collection, valued at almost 1 million pounds, is due to be sold with the funds to be reinvested back into the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Home Office.
Asharq Al-Awsat
a day ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Three Iranians in UK Court Accused of Assisting Tehran Spy Service
Three Iranian men appeared in court in London on Friday accused of assisting Iran's foreign intelligence service and plotting violence against journalists working for a British-based broadcaster critical of Tehran. The three men - Mostafa Sepahvand, 39, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 44, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 55, - have been charged with offences under Britain's National Security Act, brought in to give the authorities new powers to target threats from foreign states. They are accused of "engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service" between August 2024 and February this year, and police have said that it related to Iran. Sepahvand is also charged with carrying out surveillance in preparation to commit serious violence against a person, while Manesh and Noori were charged with surveillance with the intention that serious violent acts would be committed by others. The men appeared by videolink on Friday for a brief hearing at London's Old Bailey court during which their lawyers said all intended to plead not guilty to the charges. Prosecutors told a hearing last month that the allegations involved the targeting of journalists based in Britain connected with Iran International, a broadcaster critical of the Iranian government. They were remanded in custody until a formal plea hearing on September 26 and they are due to go on trial in October next year. The suspects were arrested last month on the same day counter-terrorism police detained five other men, including four Iranians, as part of a separate operation. Those men were later released without charge.
