Celebrating Performing Arts in Prisons

Wot is Justice - Ashworth Special Hospital, Mixed Media 
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Last week I attended the Arts Alliance's excellent 'Celebrating Performing Arts in Prisons' event, which reminded me that - other in than in my post about Massey-Chasing Boris - I haven't yet done a proper post about Free: Art by Offenders, Secure Patients and Detainees, the Koestler Trust 50th Annual UK Exhibition of Prison Arts, currently on at the Southbank Centre.

Other than obviously being a big fan of prison arts, free exhibitions and indeed the Southbank, this exhibition is of particularly significance to me, as I have my own very small link to one of the exhibited works. The back story to this is that my twin sister and I have a little competition every Christmas over who can get the best, cheapest present (which has to be under £5). Last xmas, she rather thought outside the box, and decided to not spend any money on me directly. Instead, she donated to the Koestler Trust and, as a surprise, named an award for this year's exhibition after me. Which was a lovely present and I even shed a little tear over it. So, this year, when you rock over to the Southbank Centre, look out for the Kate Massey-Chase Commended Award for Drawing.

I didn't choose the picture or anything, but it's still very exciting to feel part of an exhibition so close to my heart, even in just a small way. And this is the picture Sarah Lucas, the curator, chose to win my award:  

It's called 'The Moment', and you probably can't see it, but the title of the piece of music the subject is composing is 'A New Life'. The artist came from HMP Parkhurst. He says about it:

I wanted people to know that any form of artwork can be created anywhere by anyone and...change people's lives...by inspiring them...in some way that will make their world a better place to be. It is an incredible feeling as an artist when a work is completed, so I also tried to depict that moment. 

And here are my personal favourites from the exhibition (all images come from the Koestler Trust website): 

Wasted! - HM Prison Channings Wood, James Wood Q.C. Silver Award for Mixed Media

Sorrows to Follow - HM Prison Send, Margaret Wignall Highly Commended Award for Portraits 

The Pain I Cause - HM Prison Full Sutton, Gustave Courbet Highly Commended Award for Portraits

The artist of the last piece says:

I never did think I had anything to give to anyone not even myself, but through my art I find that I do. I now believe I can do anything and through my art I can express myself and I know I will not be coming back to prison. I know I have a future so I will be able to give back something to try to make amends.

The whole exhibition is fantastic, so hopefully these will have whet your appetite and you'll hurry down to the Southbank Centre before Nov. 25th, when it finishes, to take a look.

My next plan, although she doesn't know it yet, is to get my twin sister to donate a lump sum to Clean Break, so they can fund their Access course (which I volunteered on in 2011, and is a fantastic course, which enables female ex-offenders and women vulnerable to offending through drug use or mental health needs to progress through further education, to the point they could apply to a degree level course at university - which many do). It really saddens me that this course isn't funded at the moment, as it has the capacity to make a really meaningful and lasting change to the lives of women who aren't always given the chances they need and deserve. So, when Becca asks me what I want for my birthday.... The Kate Massey-Chase Access Course, please! Sadly, she works in the charitable sector, and despite growing vegetables, riding her bike, and wanting to change the world, she hasn't quite got the finances to fund all my arty social justice endeavours. Why did my parents encourage us to do meaningful jobs, that would fulfil us, and shit??! I live in a house with mould on my bedroom ceiling and damp coming through the walls, and Becca can't fund my predilection for supporting prison arts charities. What's that about? 

Anyway, on a more positive note, at the conference last week we had a bunch of practical workshops, with arts organisations working in prisons, and that included an EXCELLENT workshop with Good Vibrations where we all got to play the Gamelan! I'm all about the Javanese gongs right now. 

A fortnight of fun

All in all it’s been a busy couple of weeks, attending some really exciting community arts events.

Firstly, I attended a poetry workshop with Leah Thorn at the Southbank Centre, as part of a series of prison arts events run by the Arts Alliance, the national body for the promotion of arts in the Criminal Justice sector.  Leah’s workshop, Beautiful Sentence, was practical, enlightening and moving, and as well as demonstrating activities she used during her time as writer-in-residence at HMP Bronzefield.  I’m quite an avid note-taker and it’s hard to select what to say in summary of this workshop, as so much was covered.  One thing I did note was a quote from Anne Frank, which I thought carried an important sentiment: ‘Paper is more patient than people’.  The documentary she showed us (also titled Beautiful Sentence) really expressed the ‘liberating and healing effect of creativity'.

Next up, the following night, was another Arts Alliance event: The Argument Room.  This is a project by Ride Out, and is a live, interactive debate, discussing key concerns in arts and social justice.  These are held monthly, and on 20^th October debated the question: ‘Who tells the truth about crime and punishment – the Politician, the Artist, the Prisoner or the Press?’  I watched the debate online at my friend Madelaine’s house, with a few glasses of wine and some unhealthy snacks.

The following night (see, I said I’d done a lot!) I went to another Arts Alliance event at the Southbank, this time in association with Synergy Theatre Project, where they presented a number of plays written by offenders and secure patients for the 2011 Koestler Awards, ART BY OFFENDERS, SECURE PATIENTS AND DETAINEES.  I also looked round the exhibition of art work, of which the quality was astounding (go and see for yourself – it’s a fantastic exhibition! We also had a peek at GOTOJAIL: THE CELL PROJECT (still at the Southbank Centre), a replica prison cell, inhabited by a couple of ‘in role’ ex-prisoners, who we had a really good chat with.

On Saturday (22^nd) I went and saw Marat/Sade in Stratford, by the RSC – not a Social Theatre project, but definitely a play which confronts both many social and political issues, and the power of theatre.  A theatrical interrogation of Marxism versus Freudian individualism, reflecting on the French Revolution, performed by psychiatric patients. With LOTS of sex toys (and the occasional bit of on-stage masturbation and anal rape).

Next up, the Anne Peaker Debate on Tues. 25^th, again ran by the Arts Alliance, which predominately discussed their recent report: ‘Unlocking Value: The economic benefit of the arts in criminal justice’.  It was very positive to hear that their research reported that there is £3-5 economic value for every £1 spent in this area – and that’s before you even begin to reflect on the human costs, not something so easy to measure with numbers.  As good old Einstein says: 'Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted'.  Anyway, they did some video interviews after the event, and I therefore had the joy of seeing my face from an unnecessarily close-up view point on youtube the following morning:

Last but not least, I attended the ‘Get Up, Stand Up’ conference, where I witnessed some fascinating lectures and met some really lovely and interesting people; I won’t list them all now, or link to all the organisations that presented, but check out the conference programme and have a little peruse through the different organisations that attended – there’s so much fantastic work being done, across the country.

I'm ready to get up and stand up.  I might even have a little dance, if the mood takes me....