A mock funeral, complete with a coffin carrying a sculpture of a bloodied knife, is being used as part of a new anti-knife crime project in southeast London, aiming to confront teenagers and communities with the realities of violence.
Confrontational Installation
The project, titled Re-claim, was created by multimedia artist Eugene Ankomah and is designed to shine a light on teenagers “lost to the streets.” Visitors to the Salmon Youth Centre in Bermondsey are guided through a simulated crime scene, described as an “incident trail.”
Ankomah says the reaction from some visitors has been emotional, with young people who have previously carried knives breaking down in tears. “I want them to have a change of heart, a change of mind,” he said.
Former Offender Shares His Story
The installation features Michael Jibowu, who served time in prison for stabbing a teenager in the neck in 2022. Now a campaigner against knife crime, Jibowu urges young people to avoid carrying weapons.
“Every single person I know that’s carried a knife, they’ve either ended up dead or in a prison cell,” Jibowu said. “Take it from me, I’ve gone to prison for stabbing someone. You don’t have to listen to me, but the choice is yours. If you want to carry a knife, be ready for the consequences.”
Impact on Families
The project also highlights the devastating impact of knife crime on families. Sylvia Kane, whose son Eugene was stabbed to death in 2006, says engaging with the artwork is painful but part of her healing process.
“I think artwork like what Eugene Ankomah has done can stop knife crime because it is so powerful,” Kane said. “It is so visual. It touches your emotions in a way that other campaigns may not be able to.”
Knife crime figures have fallen over the past year, dropping below pre-pandemic levels, but remain more than 50% higher than a decade ago. The government has committed to halving knife crime within a decade as part of its Plan for Change strategy.
Jibowu believes understanding the individual motivations behind carrying knives is crucial. “Data helps,” he said. “But we need to understand the individual, why they are carrying knives. The key question we have to ask ourselves is why?”
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