LIMITED EDITION

In the wake of George Floyd's recorded murder at the hands of police in 2020, filmmaker Ava DuVernay, alongside her narrative change collective ARRAY, embarked on a groundbreaking initiative. The mission? To shatter the pervasive code of silence surrounding police aggression and misconduct in Black communities. Thus, the Law Enforcement Accountability Project (LEAP) was born. Amidst the uncertain times of a world health pandemic, LEAP ignited a revolutionary call to action, commissioning projects from eight visionary artists across various mediums. Spanning photography, poetry, music, mixed media, food and audio theater, each project renders activist storytelling with poignant reflections of a society in critical need of change.

The Fiction of Protection, a purposefully crafted coffee table book, marks LEAP’s final commission designed by Polymode. Within its pages lies the culmination of three years of artistic exploration and social critique. Each project is a testament to the power of art in igniting empathy and effecting change. This collective narrative seeks a pathway towards interrogating systems of justice, exploring human values, and ultimately, reconciling hope.

Ava DuVernay, the driving force behind LEAP, provides a heartfelt foreword, offering insight into the initiative's inception and importance. In the book’s introduction Mercedes Cooper, ARRAY’s senior vice president of Public Programming and LEAP curator, illuminates and contextualizes the significance of each artistic contribution.

Published independently by non-profit ARRAY Alliance, a limited-edition print run of 750 hardback copies is available starting September 2024.

Hardcover, 198 pages, 10.2x11 inches

Shipping expected to begin by late September 2024