In each city, an invited group of women have participated in a legal workshop. Identities are kept private, recordings are not made, and the workshops have been documented by a courtroom artist. Through these workshops, which have also included the performers, the artists have considered with the different groups how have we been touched by the law? How does it feel?
The law can be hidden and enigmatic in our lives. Participants were asked to bring an object that helps them describe a significant encounter with the touch of the law. This was the primary exercise used throughout the project as a way to thinking deeply into how the law has affected our lives, both personally and politically.
The latter half of the workshop in each city was led by Máiréad Enright, a legal academic and activist, who explored the legal forms of contract and consent with the group. This process aided the drafting and refining the document that is used in The Touching Contract performance in Dublin and London.
Bacon
In Derry, a woman described how she would cook bacon when her home was being raided by British soldiers [during the Troubles].
The smell of bacon cooking still reminds her of it.
Milk
In Derry, a woman identified milk as an example of the commodification of the means of survival by a capitalist state.
Mobile Phone
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Patriarchal Pop
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Rolled-up Turkish Delight
In Derry, a woman described smuggling a bar of chocolate into prison for her son. When seeing the shape of it, he thought it was a cigar.
Scarf
In Dublin, a woman described a childhood memory of her aunt, a lawyer, wearing a Hermes scarf. It represented to her the legal profession as refined, glamorous and privileged.
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The Contract
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