Saturday November 3, Cathedral Gardens/Urbis, Manchester, UK 6pm

Riot Gear for Rollartista is a mobile game performance using humor and ridicule to call attention to disturbing police abuse of ethnic minorities and immigrants in Europe and the United Kingdom. Three machinima videos, videos made using computer game worlds, show violent police actions intermingled with musical, dance performances (by the police characters in the video games). These videos are meant to connect loosely to three real life stories of police abuse and racism, stories selected from hundreds posted on the Internet and in the press. The victims of these injust incidents and their families often do not have access to many legal recourses nor public attention. Riot Gear for Rollartista is also inspired by creative activist gear, padded riot gear, and uses rollerskates, an ultra light-weight projector and a portable playstation(PSP) to intervene in urban public space.

Wayne Douglas

The Brixton riots of 1995 began on December 13 after the death of black 26 year old, Wayne Douglas in police custody. Trouble broke out after what had been a peaceful protest outside the Brixton Police Station where the death occurred. With several hundred people involved, the riot resulted in damage to property and vehicles in the area. Police sealed off a two mile area around Brixton in south London. The police statement said that Mr Douglas died after collapsing while being questioned at a local police station about a burglary. Although the post-mortem on Mr Douglas revealed that he had died of heart failure, the inquest into his death showed that he had been held face-down with his hands cuffed behind his back on four separate occasions. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995