The installation will be hosted by Emma Thompson, Sam Roddick, Helen Bamber OBE, and other members of the Journey team.

Journey’s arrival in Manhattan is a major stop on its world tour against human trafficking.

Journey brings together creativity and the art of survival to show what it means to be bought and sold. It demonstrates how one woman’s story can help us understand a subject that is as painful as it is incomprehensible. Trafficking is a crime without borders. Trafficked people become illegal, stigmatized and invisible. The state of New York is a major entry and transit hub, but authorities and agencies are pouring huge resources into supporting victims and prosecuting traffickers.

Visitors to Journey will walk through seven shipping containers that tell the story of Elena who was trafficked into sexual slavery. It evokes the seven stages of a trafficked woman’s experience:

1. Hope
– Oscar winning film designer Michael Howells

2. Journey
– sound engineer and music producer Mick Martin

3. Uniform
– Oscar winning costume designer Sandy Powell

4. Bedroom
– Coco de Mer founder Sam Roddick and Trevor Robinson
of Quiet Storm Films

5. Customer
– playwright Simon Stephens, photographer James Ostrer

6. Stigma
– Turner Prize winning sculptor Anish Kapoor

7. Resurrection
– Oscar winning actor Emma Thompson, Royal Designer Mike Dempsey
and V&A prize winning illustrator Laura Carlin

Exterior paintings by Antony Micallef and Mode 2

Journey is supported by the Mayor’s Office and other New York based organizations advocating on behalf of survivors of trafficking and other forms of violence against women and children. The Helen Bamber Foundation has a wealth of knowledge around human trafficking through working with judiciary and police, health and social services authorities, other NGOs and of course the women themselves. We are keen to share with and learn from New York agencies, and establish long-term partnerships.

“If people could experience for just five minutes what it’s like, then maybe they would not be so cruel.”
Elena Varga

“People just don't want to know about this issue – it’s hidden, it’s criminal, it’s perverse and yes, it’s happening on our own doorstep. Journey is a remarkable piece of collaborative, creative and confrontational art that profoundly challenges people’s perspective. Come and see for yourself and tell us if you agree.”
Emma Thompson