Co-curated by women at HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Low Newton
19 February – 11 May 2025
Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead
Gallery opening times: Wednesday – Sunday, 10.00am to 6.00pm
Koestler Arts and Baltic Centre for Contemporary Arts are excited to be partnering for a showcase of artwork made in criminal justice settings in the North East of England.
This exhibition was co-curated by six women serving sentences at HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Low Newton, and each piece on display was made by someone in a prison, young offender institution, secure hospital, or under supervision in the community entered into the 2024 Koestler Awards for arts in criminal justice settings. Over the course of four sessions delivered by Koestler Arts in the prison’s art class, the women considered almost 300 works made in the North East, and selected 70 to be displayed.
The group brought their different tastes and perspectives to the curation process, discussing their favourite works and the themes that connected them. They shared lively discussions about their own varied creative practices, the meaning and value of freedom, and the escapism and connection to home that being creative can offer.
“I hope visitors feel a connection with the artworks, with the emotions and experiences conveyed. Each piece is a reflection of what the artist holds inside of them. I hope visitors can feel that wonderful creative energy.” – Exhibition co-curator
The selected works reflect the curators’ shared standpoint of looking outwards and forwards towards freedom and home, while honouring the diversity of experience within the group and among the exhibited artists.
Many of the works depict movement and journeys of various kinds – some turbulent, but all hopeful. Others reflect the different meanings ‘home’ can have for people. There are the things, people, and places that the artists miss and look forward to returning to. There is also acknowledgement that some people are far from home, that not everyone has a home to return to, or feels home is a safe place. The exhibition title, Almost Home, is taken from a painting in the exhibition, and was felt to capture these varied resonances.
Listen
Hear music pieces featured in the exhibition, from computer generated tunes to hip hop, rap and grime!
Age recommendation: 18+ (Some tracks contain content some listeners may find upsetting)
Acknowledgements
This exhibition is possible thanks to all the individuals and organisations that support the work of Koestler Arts.
Thank you to our partners at Baltic for hosting the show and to HM Prison and Young Offender Institution Low Newton for taking part in the curation project and Junction 42 for facilitating the curation sessions. Additional thanks to all the Arts Societies in the North East that kindly supported the show: Driffield Wolds, Ebor, Leeds, Nidd Valley, Halifax, Harrogate and Saltaire.
Our exhibition Friends and Family days are funded by Doughty Street Chambers and the Michael Varah Memorial Fund, and our Visitors’ Choice Awards are supported by Wates Group.
Special thanks to our main funders: Arts Council England, HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), and Paul Hamlyn Foundation. Our work is made possible by generous Charitable Trusts and Foundations, our Corporate partners, and our dedicated donor groups the Koestler Patrons and Koestler Friends.
Online Gallery
The Storm
The darkness of the night, now at this, it’s smallest hour, offers no silence, no calming repose, from the anger of the storm.It calls loudly to its foot soldiers to beat upon the guardians of this place. Heavy doors of oak, and windows that have been sealed firmly against the soaking air of the sheeting rain.
Though my eyes are held tightly closed, and my fingertips grip my covers, I cannot deafen my ears and cease the howling and wailing of the earliest part of this morning. That part which no person who resides in peace and calm would ever know.
This hour, which would pass unseen by the distant mind of the sleeping man, enjoying hours of pleasurable dreams. That escape eludes me, like midday shadows are hidden from the sun, and the solidity of the earth is hidden below the depths of rolling seas.
How may I find that place, that calm dale, that sleepy vale, in this rolling landscape of such a restless night?
My bed offers no comfort, as my mind conjures demons that dance and laugh in the sounds of this devilish, hellish weather.
Come sleep, for I await you.
HM Prison Northumberland, Poem, 2024
The Storm
The Storm
HM Prison Northumberland, Poem, 2024
Untitled
It’s just like my heart,this shiny black stone,
soft and smooth
yet cold to the touch.
Hold it close for a while
And it will warm with a smile.
The contours of the stone
remind me of old wounds
and scars of my own.
Seems dark and lost,
the cloth seems the same,
dark and smooth,
cool to the touch
unless warmed with love.
from the poetry collection Free Inside: Poems by Primrose and F-Wing, HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Low Newton, Gold Award for Poetry Collection, 2024
Untitled
Untitled
from the poetry collection Free Inside: Poems by Primrose and F-Wing, HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Low Newton, Gold Award for Poetry Collection, 2024
Oyster Catcher
An Oyster Catcher glides the airMajestic, their black and white feathers, orange beak and golden eyes noticed in today’s turquoise sky.
Flying over surfs of golden coastal grasses, along tidal paths, they ebb and flow into my soul
And, I smile at their beauty remembering too the joy of freely flying,
The joy of flying free.
Northgate Hospital, Poem, 2024
Oyster Catcher
Oyster Catcher
Northgate Hospital, Poem, 2024
Northgate Woods
Green grass,Brown earth,
Quiet water dripping,
Wild mint tastes like butter toffee.
Trees rustle in the wild,
And garlic flowers shine like stars.
Songbirds sing to the sky above,
As pheasants pick at pine cones.
In Northgate Woods trees get cut down,
Logs are piled for beetles, frogs,
Moss, mushrooms, squirming worms;
A badger’s woodland feast.
The pink moon rises,
George battles the dragon,
Twilight’s curtain falls,
As Northgate Wood awakens.
Northgate Hospital, Poem, 2024
Northgate Woods
Northgate Woods
Northgate Hospital, Poem, 2024
Scooter
I was just a sheet of metal before I was turned into a scooter,Cut up and melted, put into moulds,
Put together, assembled; wheels, engine, battery; ignition key.
They, started me up and I roared,
I was painted all the colours of the rainbow,
Then placed in a shop where scooters were sold.
My anxiety didn’t begin after being cut-up, melted, poured.
The burning, darkness and claustrophobic feelings,
Began when I felt forgotten,
And placed in the shop where scooters were sold.
Waiting, dust collecting, my roar deep in my soul,
It was two years before I was sold.
The person who bought me,
Took me home, placed me in their garage,
Once more I felt all alone.
But soon they stripped me down, took out my old 50mph engine,
Replacing it with a sleek new faster one,
Now I am stronger, faster, and a smooth jet black
Zooming down country lanes, taking corners, skidding into ditches,
Coasting on a rail, till I met that tight a bend,
Then was broken once more.
Cut up, stripped down, melted, poured in moulds,
Assembled, wheels, engine, battery; ignition key.
Started up again and I roared.
Northgate Hospital, Silver Award for Poem, 2024
Scooter
Scooter
Northgate Hospital, Silver Award for Poem, 2024
A Last Stanza
The colours dip behind the seaas another page closes
and I wish for a boat
to lose the horizon
In apathetic tides
Where the depths are beyond
breaths reach and the rudder
doesn’t question our course
as death floats, life sinks
and nothing rises in the distance
but the swell of somewhere else
I’ve spoken with salvation’s nemesis
and took the vastness of the void
for what it is
as it slipped through my mind,
dissipated on the words that don’t care
to be heard or understood
And I’ve forgiven the abject nature of time
for its relentless pursuit of a rhythm beyond my grasp
though its indifference flung my
sanctity into the trenches of its
tumultuous wake
I’ve wrestled arguments out of the
philosophies I compiled in darkness
and squeezed light into the crevices
until the transparency left me formless
melted on the shallow remnants of
possibilities too pretentious for debate
and decreed failure without grudge
I’ve lifted the shadows
off the imprints forged by God
on the circumference of everything familiar
and relented to a strangeness
that leaves me dejected, deflated
but soluble in the density of
emptiness
and I’ve praised it
I’ve hauled torment
to the Altar of Alchemy
and fabricated faith in fools gold
as hope was bartered on the auction block of Rah
dressed in chainmail and ropes
and I danced on the Pyre of Osiris
without self-imposed limitation
but transcended, unshaken
And love’s mirage had me tied
to desolate dreams
on arid grounds
seeking prophecy
as the Sahaba passed
quietly
under clouds that refused to rain
but I played through the refrain
as the song quelled my thirst
then drifted away
And
I’d wish for a boat
to lose the horizon in apathetic tides
where the depths are beyond breaths reach
and the rudder doesn’t question
our course
But wishes
were metaphor
And the colours dip behind
sand
as another page closes
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Low Newton, Commended Award for Poem, 2024
A Last Stanza
A Last Stanza
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Low Newton, Commended Award for Poem, 2024
Tsunami
Empathy comes and flows with the tideDepositing those little sharp shell
fragments of regret
Emotions drift
back and forth, not daring
to get my toes wet.
Waves of pointed words
burst the bubble,
Spraying truths on where I lied.
And from somewhere deep inside
a tsunami leaves nowhere to hide
from the collection Extra-Ordinary People, HM Prison Frankland, Gold Award for Anthology, 2024
Tsunami
Tsunami
from the collection Extra-Ordinary People, HM Prison Frankland, Gold Award for Anthology, 2024
Bluebell Wood
I imagine walking through the bluebell woodIn my younger day
The sweet smell so strong
And the blue colour in the sun’s rays
The summer rain falling down to earth.
The smell of rain on the ground.
The sound of blue tits chirping away.
from the poetry collection Sorrow and Smile, HM Prison Frankland, Poetry Collection, 2024
Bluebell Wood
Bluebell Wood
from the poetry collection Sorrow and Smile, HM Prison Frankland, Poetry Collection, 2024
Whoosh!
He appears to show no fearHe appears to be full of glee
When glumness drains cheer
There is no preparation
For the emotional drop
Just desperation
When the plunge eventually stops
There are no ladders
To climb up out of the abyss
No rocks protruding like props
To give him a lift
So something is amiss
Wait, what is this?
I’m hunched over in agony
Beckoning for someone to help me
Suddenly I grow wings, then
Whoosh!
HM Prison Frankland, Shelagh and Joyce Bronze Award for Poem, 2024
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
HM Prison Frankland, Shelagh and Joyce Bronze Award for Poem, 2024
Roller Coaster
Northgate Hospital, Sculpture, 2024
Missing Home
HM Young Offender Institution Deerbolt, Painting, 2024
Expressives
HM Prison Holme House, Commended Award for Portrait, 2024
Untitled
HM Prison Holme House, Drawing, 2024
The Diamond Collection
HM Prison Frankland, Handmade Greetings Card, 2024
Full English
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Low Newton, Sculpture, 2024
Almost Home – Hope
HM Prison Holme House, Painting, 2024
Love Hands
HM Prison Northumberland, Highly Commended Award for Sculpture, 2024
Bracing Myself as Two Worlds Collide
HM Prison Holme House, Painting, 2024
Wetherspoofs
HM Prison Holme House, Commended Award for Painting, 2024
Shattered Illusions
HM Prison Holme House, Drawing, 2024
From Now On I’m Free to Ride
HM Prison Northumberland, Themed Category: From Now On, 2024
Suitcase
HM Prison Northumberland, Sculpture, 2024
Sailing
HM Prison Holme House, Painting, 2024
Flowers
HM Prison Holme House, Painting, 2024
Dog
HM Prison Holme House, Painting, 2024
Empty Quarter – Perseverance
HM Prison Holme House, Painting, 2024
Nejma (Morning Stone) Faith
HM Prison Holme House, Painting, 2024
Light of the World
HM Prison Northumberland, Commended Award for Matchstick Model, 2024
From Now On Love Time Out
HM Prison Northumberland, Matchstick Model, 2024
The Angel
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Low Newton, Sculpture, 2024
Peaceful World
HM Prison Holme House, Drawing, 2024
Fractured Seasons
HM Young Offender Institution Deerbolt, Painting, 2024
Outdoors
HM Prison Holme House, Drawing, 2024
Ouseburn River
Northgate Hospital, Drawing, 2024
Bath
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Low Newton, Watercolour and Gouache, 2024
Ethiopia
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Low Newton, Commended Award for Watercolour and Gouache, 2024
The River Le Rouge
HM Young Offender Institution Deerbolt, Commended Award for Painting, 2024
Contemplating Dreams
HM Young Offender Institution Deerbolt, Gold Award for Pastel, 2024
Gina’s Glasses
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Low Newton, Highly Commended Award for Handmade Book, 2024
Moving On
HM Prison Northumberland, Highly Commended Award for Themed Category: From Now On, 2024
From Now On – Let It Go
HM Prison Frankland, Commended Award for Themed Category: From Now On, 2024
It Always Makes Me Feel Good
HM Prison Frankland, Portrait, 2024
Friend
HM Prison Frankland, Portrait, 2024
Forever Love
HM Prison Frankland, Painting, 2024
The Stolen Fruit
HM Prison Frankland, Mixed Media, 2024
Fresh Start
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Low Newton, Tom Barnard Highly Commended Award for Calligraphy, 2024
Just Wetting a Line
HM Prison Frankland, Painting, 2024
NASA, Last Off
HM Prison Frankland, Commended Award for Painting, 2024
Fluid Fusion
HM Prison Frankland, Painting, 2024
Protecting Characteristics
HM Young Offender Institution Deerbolt, Painting, 2024
The Colourful Weather
HM Prison Durham, Drawing, 2024
We Are On a Journey
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Low Newton, Commended Award for Calligraphy, 2024
Streaming Hills
Northgate Hospital, Commended Award for Painting, 2024
Moonie Uni-Pride
HM Prison Frankland, Outstanding Debut Award for Sculpture, 2024
Relaxing Staffy
Northgate Hospital, Commended Award for Textile Art, 2024
The Twilight Perspective
Northgate Hospital, Painting, 2024
Labyrinth
Northgate Hospital, Drawing, 2024
Flight – Blueprint for an Astronaut
Aycliffe Secure Centre (secure children’s home), 18 and Under Highly Commended Award for Printmaking, 2024
Yet More Thoughts From a 10×8 Box
Magnolia walls and pale blue doorDrab brown vinyl on the floor
Formica faced furniture, an iron framed bed
A splash of colour, the bedding is red.
My clothes are grey, except the jeans,
They’re prison blues, my trainers are green.
I had once a life so fine and so colourful
So vibrant, so rich, so gloriously visual.
A five-minute stroll to the top of the hill,
Gaze southwards to a horizon many a mile
Across open country, farmland, hill and forest,
An unbroken vista from the east to the west.
For too many years my horizons are bound
And constrained by fences, walls, compounds.
No flowers, shrubs, hedges nor trees,
Concrete and steel are all that I see.
Now wait. Birdsong I hear. Sing on!
Sing on sweet bird, sing freedom’s song.
Lift my heart with you as high you fly
Swiftly, joyously, bear me across the sky.
For even in this place, so drab, so grim,
Your song lifts me up and makes me grin
As a smile splits my face, my spirit is lifted
I welcome this joy so freely gifted.
HM Prison Frankland, Bronze Award for Poem, 2024
Yet More Thoughts From a 10×8 Box
Yet More Thoughts From a 10×8 Box
HM Prison Frankland, Bronze Award for Poem, 2024
Area Where I Grew Up
Hear the whooshing of the waves.See waves crashing,
it’s calm by the shore.
Air going through my hair,
it’s more entertaining
when you’re by yourself.
Smell the grass.
Smell cut grass,
the feel of it.
Grass and hills,
a positive connection within.
Happy siblings
alone, but I felt big.
Dogs running and barking.
Birds chirping,
boiling hot, skin sizzling.
People laughing.
The taste of sausage butties,
the smell of toffee apples.
Candy floss.
Sand gets everywhere.
from the collection Free Inside: Poems by Primrose and F-Wing, HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Low Newton, Gold Award for Poetry Collection, 2024
Area Where I Grew Up
Area Where I Grew Up
from the collection Free Inside: Poems by Primrose and F-Wing, HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Low Newton, Gold Award for Poetry Collection, 2024
Shell-Shocked
I found a shell, it’s roughand when you put it to your ear
you can hear the sea.
The sound relaxes me
and calms me down
like being on a beach
where you can hear the water
splash onto the rocks.
Whilst holding the shell
I feel its smoothness
which is surprising
considering it’s rough
on the top.
from the collection Free Inside: Poems by Primrose and F-Wing, HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Low Newton, Gold Award for Poetry Collection, 2024
Shell-Shocked
Shell-Shocked
from the collection Free Inside: Poems by Primrose and F-Wing, HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Low Newton, Gold Award for Poetry Collection, 2024
The Mouse in Our House
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Low Newton, Graphic Novel, 2024
About Baltic
Baltic Centre for Contemporary Arts is a world leader in the presentation and commissioning of contemporary visual art and the UK’s largest dedicated contemporary art institution. Housed in a historic, renovated flour mill on the Gateshead bank of the River Tyne, Baltic opened in 2002 to present a dynamic, diverse and international programme of contemporary visual art, with an ever-changing calendar of exhibitions and activities. Having gained an international reputation for commissioning cutting-edge temporary exhibitions, Baltic has presented the work of over 460 artists of 60 nationalities in 220 exhibitions to date.
