| UK Exhibition 2009
21 October - 6 December 2009 Thumbnail panels:
Exhibition Sponsor
Exhibition Supporters
Our annual UK-wide exhibition showcases a superb selection of the most remarkable entries from the Koestler Awards. Alongside the visual art displays, it includes listening stations for music, albums of creative writing, film showings and a full programme of events. NEW! This year's exhibition:
Click here for a list of exhibits. Click here for the exhibition poster. Women curators In a groundbreaking collaboration with the Prison Service, the Koestler Trust and Southbank Centre have recruited the curators from this year's exhibition from the inmates at HMP Downview, a female prison in Sutton, Surrey. The 6 participants are all nearing the end of their sentences and were carefully vetted and selected. Like many prisoners preparing for resettlement, they were given special licences to leave the prison on a daily basis to participate in constructive activity in the community. This consisted of an intensive 9-week training course at the Koestler Arts Centre and Royal Festival Hall. Tutored by professional curators and gallery technicians, the women studied museum design and curating practice, selected the 140 exhibits from the 5,687 entries to the year's Koestler Awards, designed the lay-out, framed the pictures and installed the exhibition. The curators are leading the public tours of the exhibition every Tuesday and Thursday at 6 pm, and every Saturday at 3 pm. Each curator is being given guidance about where to aim next with the skills they have learnt from the project. A special event is being held for the families of the curators at the exhibition. Public vote Visitors to the exhibition are invited to vote for their favourite artworks and to write comments which will be forwarded to the offender-artists. The most popular works will win extra Koestler Awards sponsored by the Wates family, owners of one of the UK's largest construction companies, the Wates Group.Thank you to our sponsors Our principal exhibiton sponsor this year is The Co-operative. The Co-operative supports a diverse range of community activity - in 2008, it gave £11.5 million to communities throughout the UK and overseas, equivalent to almost 10% of pre tax profit. The Co-operative's support for art and other offender rehabilitation projects has changed the lives and direction of a significant number of offenders over the last few years, and has contributed to a reduction in re-offending. Exhibits and awards by under 18s are supported by the Youth Justice Board, the Government agency for the youth justice system in England and Wales. Premium sponsors of the 2009 Koestler Awards are G4S and Kalyx, both of which operate prisons. The events programme, film room, music listening stations and performances are generously supported by the leading global financial information company, Bloomberg. Events at the exhibition Big Art Sale sponsored by Wates The arts & women offenders Not Shut Up Prose and Cons Exhibition closures Training seminars for arts professionals |
