’Toothache’, a self-portrait by Michael
Spirit Level 1, Koestler Exhibition 2009, Royal Festival Hall - Free Entry
Art by Offenders features creative work from a range of mediums by prisoners, psychiatric patients and immigration detainees from across the world, but what’s really interesting here is that 6 prisoners from HM Prison Downview in Surrey were chosen by the Koestler Trust to curate the exhibition.
The Koestler Trust is recognised as being the biggest supporter of the arts in prison and has been promoting, selling and exhibiting the inventive efforts of inmates for almost half a decade as well as giving out awards for the strongest pieces. In a fitting turn of events, the Trust has decided to put the selection powers into the hands of the very people who have been contributing to the creative revolution taking place within prison-walls.
Once nominated the 6 women behind the exhibition whittled down 5800 international submissions (including painting, music, film, sculpture and poetry) to just 150 which are now on display at the Royal Festival Hall. After speaking to Keran, one of the curators reaching the end of her sentence, it became clear that each of the women had invested a commendable level of dedication into the project: ‘We spent 6 hours a day everyday for 9 weeks choosing which work would go on show and also learning how to curate an exhibition’.
All of the curators were visibly up-beat and enthusiastic about their efforts and seemed to draw strength and encouragement from not only the public’s response to Art by Offenders, but also the beneficial impact it has had on people like Michael (pictured above) who has now left prison with an artist’s scholarship from the Koestler Trust.
‘After a Visit’
The central theme of the exhibition was that convicts struggle from a lack of identity in prison but they can use their creativity as a means to self-empowerment. Some of the art provides evidence of reform; some of it acknowledges a grasp of political awareness and the world outside the prison-gates; some of the work portrays the frustration and difficulty of seeing family and friends during visits; but most of it represents the artist’s only means of re-affirming their sense-of-self in an environment where they are addressed by numbers instead of names. “Art allows me to take ownership of something positive as well as the negative actions of my past”, reads one annotation.
Some artists express regret at not being more creative before their conviction. This certainly struck a chord with me - being the type of person who loves to make things but often hides behind excuses. Referring to his prize-winning painting where peering eyes catch him out while he’s taking a long-awaited dump, one of the artists states that ‘prison reduces its habitants to a child-like vulnerability but it has also re-awakened the pleasures of childhood. Art got lost in the day-to-day grind’.
As testament to their achievements, the curators laugh as a unit about the jealousy they encountered from their fellow inmates for being allowed to work outside the prison gates, with one of the women saying 'there was resentment from the prison officers too’. For remaining passive to hostility and for putting on a great exhibition, the curators of Art By Offenders deserve respect and we wish them well with their future endeavours.
What you need to know:
- London tube: Waterloo. Royal Festival Hall is on the South Bank and very hard to miss.
- The exhibition is free and can be found towards the rear of the building and downstairs. It finishes on Sunday 6th December.
- You can be taken on a tour of the exhibition by the curators at 6pm on Tuesdays/Thursdays and also at 3pm on Saturdays.
- For more info go here: http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/find/learning-participation/tickets/art...
