The I and the We

2021 UK exhibition at Southbank Centre

Curated by Camille Walala and Sarah Ihler-Meyer

29 October – 5 December 2021

Exhibition Space, Level 1, Royal Festival Hall

Curated by artist Camille Walala and her sister, curator Sarah Ihler-Meyer, The I and the We presented around 200 powerful artworks selected from over 6,400 entries to the 2021 Koestler Awards.

The 2021 Koestler Arts UK exhibition of art, music and writing by people in criminal justice settings was back in Level 1 of Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall.

The exhibition showcased quirky artworks made of found materials, works full of humour and joy, as well as pieces reflecting on loss, relationships and prison life, all created during the pandemic.

Events

Voices from Prison

Friday 26 November, 6.30pm; Level 5 Function Room

Powerful performances of written work from the 2020 and 2021 Koestler Awards. Hosted by artist and curator Gary Mansfield, a previous Koestler Award-winner and host of The Ministry of Arts Podcast.

*Recording coming soon*

Exhibition Tours

Daily; Exhibition Space

A group of ex-prisoner exhibition hosts, employed by Koestler Arts, were specially trained to help guide visitors around the exhibition. Working alongside Southbank Centre Visitor Assistants, hosts shared their insights about the artworks and used their personal experience to help visitors understand more about where the pieces have come from.

Pop-up shop

Open daily; Exhibition Space

Closed during exhibition tours

Hundreds of artworks from this year’s Koestler Awards were for sale and ready to take away at our Pop-Up Art shop. Visitors could also find Koestler Arts merchandise and publications, including and the charity’s brand-new poetry anthology Koestler Voices Vol. 3. The book showcases insightful poetry written by those in criminal justice settings during the challenges of the past two years, and features a foreword by poet Jackie Kay.

Visit our online shop

Playlist

Listen to the music from the exhibition, The I and the We, through the Soundcloud playlist below.

Film and Animation

Watch the three short films from the exhibition, The I and the We in the YouTube playlist below.

Online Gallery

View the artworks from the exhibition, The I and the We, in the gallery below.

5 Days CCC – Holiday
HM Prison Isle of Wight (Albany), Highly Commended Award for Drawing, 2021
A Community Together
HM Prison Wymott, Painting, 2021
A Day At The Seaside
HM Prison Elmley, Lady Bishopston Bronze Award for Sculpture, 2021
A Different Perspective
HM Prison Glenochil, Painting, 2021
A Light in the Dark
Bluebird House (secure children’s home), Patrick Holmes Platinum Award for Painting, 2021
Alan Turing
HM Prison Long Lartin, Highly Commended Award for Portrait, 2021
All Together
HM Prison Oakwood, Themed Category: Together, 2021
Alone In A Prison Cell

Alone In A Prison Cell
HM Prison Magilligan, Highly Commended Award for Poem, 2021

Alone In A Prison Cell

As I sit alone in my prison
Remembering back to bygone days
I cast my mind back to reflect
Saint Patrick’s Day when I was free
In a rundown bar on O’Connell Street
Me and my girl supped Guinness
Frothy smiling and moustaches listening
To a band singing ‘My Lovely Horse’
Outside the sky electric blue
The sun dazzled bright yellow
People stretched as far as I could see
In the streets singing
No shouting or loud speeches
The people sang one song
Loud and proud over and over again
‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’
Animal Kingdom
Edenfield Centre (secure mental health unit), Painting, 2021
Are Weasels Tasty?
HM Prison Oakwood, Mark Long Commended Award for Painting, 2021
Arts Competio
HM Prison Wakefield, Joe Rawcliffe Bronze Award for Graphic Novel, 2021
Become the Fire
HM Prison Eastwood Park, Painting, 2021
Black Life Matters
HM Prison Downview, Portrait, 2021
Boat of Freedom
Field House (secure mental health unit), Elysium Healthcare Platinum Award for Craft, 2021
Bond Together
HM Prison Isle of Wight (Albany), Freeman Bronze Award for Themed Category: Together, 2021
Born to Be Together
HM Prison Glenochil, Themed Category: Together, 2021
Boy’s Best Friend
HM Prison Barlinnie, Highly Commended Award for Painting, 2021
Camel
HM Prison Lewes, Highly Commended Award for Drawing, 2021
Castle Dungeon
Fieldhead Hospital, Commended Award for Painting, 2021
Cellular Confinement
HM Young Offender Institution Polmont, Highly Commended Award for Drawing, 2021
Claw-Man
Arbury Court (secure mental health unit), Highly Commended Award for Portrait, 2021
Crazy Town
HM Prison Humber, Gold Award for Drawing, 2021
Dear Future
HM Prison The Verne, Transformation Commended Award for Painting, 2021
Deirdre Past Her Sell-By Date
HM Prison Castle Huntly, Portrait, 2021
Derek the Dog
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Parc, Highly Commended Award for Ceramics, 2021
Don’t Say It, Sew It
Reading Probation Service, Monday Charitable Trust Silver Award for Handmade Greetings Card, 2021
Dot
HM Prison Addiewell, Portrait, 2021
Easy Life Travel
HM Prison Wakefield, Matchstick Model, 2021
EAT ME
Arbury Court (secure mental health unit), Painting, 2021
Eco Farm
HM Prison Whatton, Commended Award for Sculpture, 2021
Entertainer
HM Prison Glenochil, Matchstick Model, 2021
Escape
HM Prison Dovegate, Dalrymple Silver Award for Ceramics, 2021
Extinction
HM Prison Glenochil, Sculpture, 2021
Fabric 2021
St Nicholas Hospital, Bronze Award for Textile Art, 2021
Faces in the Flowers
Caswell Clinic (secure mental health unit), Painting, 2021
Family Meal
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Cornton Vale, Themed Category: Together, 2021
Feeling the Movement
Reading Probation Service, Daisy Jellicoe First-Time Entrant Award for Perseverance for Sculpture, 2021
Flock Together
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Parc, Commended Award for Painting, 2021
Flowering Tree
Bracton Centre (secure mental health unit), Commended Award for Painting, 2021
Fourth Dimension
HM Prison Glenochil, Painting, 2021
Friendship
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Parc, Bronze Award for Sculpture, 2021
God’s Word
HM Prison Garth, Graphic Novel, 2021
Golden Pheasant
HM Prison Glenochil, Sir Joseph Pilling Bronze Award for Sculpture, 2021
Green Jelli-Babees
HM Prison Wakefield, Sean Tighe Memorial Highly Commended Award for Graphic Novel, 2021
Grey Day
HM Young Offender Institution Cookham Wood, Felix Kelly Under 25s Special Award for Portrait, 2021
Hand on My Heart
HM Prison Wakefield, Matchstick Model, 2021
Hands, Face, Space
HM Prison Littlehey, Portrait, 2021
Happy Face
HM Young Offender Institution Cookham Wood, Fast Feedback Highly Commended Award for Portrait, 2021
Harlem Buckfast
HM Prison Barlinnie, Portrait, 2021
Held Together
Wenger House Approved Premises, Commended Award for Painting, 2021
Help Me Please (Getting to Me Under Lockdown)
HM Prison Glenochil, Highly Commended Award for Painting, 2021
Here’s The Deal, We Are All Allowed One Wish
Kemble House (secure mental health unit), Commended Award for Painting, 2021
Hidden Love
HM Prison Warren Hill, Highly Commended Award for Needlecraft, 2021
Hope
HM Prison Shotts, Commended Award for Painting, 2021
Hope in Transit
HM Prison Dovegate, Sculpture, 2021
House of Peace and Acceptance
HM Prison Humber, Sculpture, 2021
How Green Is My Valley
Caswell Craft Group, Caswell Clinic (secure mental health unit), 2021
Hullo Johnny
HM Prison Glenochil, Commended Award for Sculpture, 2021
I Miss Them
HM Prison Shotts, Frederick Davies Commended Award for Painting, 2021
I Wanna Bigsit Wiv Ma Nicpic
HM Prison Dovegate, Lamberth Highly Commended Award for Painting, 2021
I Will Not Be Beaten
HM Prison Downview, First-Time Entrant Award for Portrait, 2021
If We All Stand Together We Can Do Anything
Thornford Park Hospital, Sculpture, 2021
I’m Off With The Raggle Taggle Gypsies O
HM Prison Elmley, Matchstick Model, 2021
Imaginary Landscape 1
Leverndale Hospital, Painting, 2021
Imaginary Landscape 2
Leverndale Hospital, Painting, 2021
Imaginary Room
Leverndale Hospital, Commended Award for Painting, 2021
Imagination
HM Prison Northumberland, Portrait, 2021
In My Lockdown
HM Prison Glenochil, Commended Award for Mixed Media, 2021
In the Can
Worthing Probation Service, Watercolour and Gouache, 2021
In the Heat of the Summer
HM Prison Holme House, Silver Award for Painting, 2021
Inside (My Grey Lockdown)
HM Prison Isle of Wight (Albany), Keep At It! Bronze Award for Sculpture, 2021
It’s Only a Matter of Time
HM Prison Send, Sculpture, 2021
Jail Break

Jail Break
HM Prison Magilligan, Believe in Now Under-25s Special Award for Poem, 2021

Jail Break

I’ll not come back to jail
Simply because
There are not enough hours in the day
Not enough days in the year
And not enough years in a lifetime
Jimi Hendrix
HM Prison Wandsworth, Portrait, 2021
Jurassic Dinosaur – T-Rex
HM Prison Whatton, Craft, 2021
Just Smile
HM Young Offender Institution Cookham Wood, Portrait, 2021
Justice for BLM
Edenfield Centre (secure mental health unit), Painting, 2021
Keep the Faith
HM Prison Bronzefield, Christine Wong JP’s One to Watch Gold Award for Graphic Novel, 2021
Kept Together
HM Prison Haverigg, Reg Gadney Highly Commended Award for Painting, 2021
Kingfisher
Bournemouth Probation Service, Craft, 2021
Last Call
HM Prison Full Sutton, Julia Rogerson Highly Commended Award for Painting, 2021
Last Chance Saloon
HM Prison Humber, Commended Award for Sculpture, 2021
Let There Be Peace
HM Prison Glenochil, Themed Category: Together, 2021
Let Us Pray
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Askham Grange, Textile Art, 2021
Lion’s Den
HM Prison Isle of Wight (Albany), Sculpture, 2021
Lockdown Pastime
HM Prison Bure, Portrait, 2021
Lockdown Together
HM Prison Buckley Hall, Themed Category: Together, 2021
Lumberjack Park
HM Prison Isle of Wight (Albany), Hope First-Time Entrant Award for Matchstick Model, 2021
Lunch with Marcus
HM Prison Long Lartin, Baseroom First-Time Entrant Award for Portrait, 2021
Macaw Parrot
HM Prison Bristol, Sculpture, 2021
Marcus
HM Prison Full Sutton, Highly Commended Award for Portrait, 2021
Millennium Falcon
HM Prison The Verne, Matchstick Model, 2021
Millionaire Marco
HM Young Offender Institution Feltham, Arts Society Greater London Area First-Time Entrant Award for Printmaking, 2021
Mississippi Steam Boat
HM Prison Wakefield, Si Pickard Commended Award for Matchstick Model, 2021
Most Years
HM Prison The Verne, Clara Alman Highly Commended Award for Watercolour and Gouache, 2021
Music Fan
HM Prison Holme House, Highly Commended Award for Portrait, 2021
My Bedside Lamp Always Shines
HM Prison Glenochil, Translations, Transmutations, Transpositions Bronze Award for Mixed Media, 2021
My Cat's Window
Arbury Court (secure mental health unit), Commended Award for Painting, 2021
My Church
HM Prison Dovegate, Matchstick Model. 2021
My Cow
HM Prison Dovegate, Arts Society Cavendish Highly Commended Award for Ceramics, 2021
My Faces Book
HM Prison Ashfield, Commended Award for Handmade Book, 2021
My Future Home
HM Young Offender Institution Feltham, Sculpture, 2021
My Granny
Bracton Centre (secure mental health unit), Portrait, 2021
My Lady
HM Prison Holme House, Portrait, 2021
My Perfect Cell Mate
HM Prison The Verne, Bronze Award for Needlecraft, 2021
Natural Beauty
HM Prison Glenochil, Pastel, 2021
Never Judge!!!
HM Prison Exeter, Calligraphy, 2021
New Grub / The Servery
HM Prison Wakefield, Graphic Novel, 2021
Night Behind the Bars
HM Prison Isle of Wight (Albany), Bella the Labrador Bronze Award for Painting, 2021
No Space!
HM Prison Buckley Hall, Gold Award for Drawing, 2021
Nuclear Radiation War
HM Prison Winchester, Space Station Sixty-Five Platinum Award for Sculpture, 2021
Old Age Dignity and Care
HM Prison Full Sutton, Otis and the Artists Bronze Award for Sculpture, 2021
Old Meets New
HM Prison Whatton, Sir Hugh Casson Platinum Award for Drawing, 2021
One More Strike
HM Prison Littlehey, Sculpture, 2021
Optimus Protector
HM Prison Exeter, Portrait, 2021
Out of Many One
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Parc, Emdee Bronze Award for Themed Category: Together, 2021
Out of the Box
The Laurels (secure mental health unit), TVMole Commended Award for Painting, 2021
Outlook
HM Prison Peterborough, Commended Award for Painting, 2021
Pablo Escobar II
HM Young Offender Institution Cookham Wood, Fast Feedback Highly Commended Award for Portrait, 2021
Peaceful Walk Along River
HM Prison Inverness, Watercolour and Gouache, 2021
Peacocks
Arbury Court (secure mental health unit), Pastel, 2021
Perspective
HM Prison Shotts, Artists’ Collecting Society Silver Award for Painting, 2021
Phenomenal Women Collection
HM Prison Send, David Wentworth Silver Award for Mixed Media, 2021
Please No More Rain
Arbury Court (secure mental health unit), Painting, 2021
Popping Up to See You Both
Northgate Hospital, Sculpture, 2021
Portals
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Parc, Stockwell Bronze Award for Ceramics, 2021
Prison Visit
HM Prison Castle Huntly, Commended Award for Painting, 2021
Quickly!!!
HM Prison The Verne, Painting, 2021
Raging
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Parc, Robin & Margaret Weiss Silver Award for Ceramics, 2021
Reception Orders / Deliveries
HM Prison Wakefield, Graphic Novel, 2021
Remember When We Could Protest Together
HM Prison Dovegate, Painting, 2021
Right to Be

Right to Be
HM Prison Barlinnie, First-Time Entrant Award for Poem, 2021

Right to Be

I got the right to be me
I got the right to be loud and proud
I got the right to be queer
I got the right to be here
I got the right to be free
I got the right to be seen

I got the right to be vocal
I got the right to be honest and true
I got the right to be confident
I got the right to be here
I got the right to be free
I got the right to be the last of me.
Road to Nowhere
HM Prison Long Lartin, Painting, 2021
Road to the Top
Llanelli Probation Service, Emma Buckmaster Silver Award for Painting, 2021
Sailing Through Life
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Styal Highly Commended Award for Drawing, 2021
Sayings Shopper
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Cornton Vale, Silver Award for Needlecraft, 2021
Scary Face
Broadland Clinic (secure mental health unit), Portrait, 2021
Self Portrait
HM Prison Glenochil, Pierce Brunt Highly Commended Award for Portrait, 2021
Sitting Together
HM Prison Bronzefield, Weavers’ Company Platinum Award for Textile Art, 2021
Snooker Table
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution, Parc Matchstick Model, 2021
Soldier After War
HM Prison Shotts, First-Time Entrant Award for Portrait, 2021
Sounds I Hear

Sounds I Hear
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Parc, Bronze Award for Poem, 2021

Sounds I Hear

Random boasting, bullying and abuse,
scratching, banging, screaming,
animal impressions,
keys and chains,
birds,
dogs,
choking code blues,
smashed-up sinks and toilets,
flooding noisy neighbours,
splashing, crying,
laughing,
drones and mobile phones,
loud TVs,
dance music rising inside,
twenty-three and a half hours
for our privileges
to die.
St. Tropez Beach
HM Prison Bronzefield, Bronze Award for Needlecraft, 2021
Stepping Out
HM Prison Peterborough, Sodexo Justice Services Commended Award for Sculpture, 2021
Stonehenge
HM Prison Dumfries, Sculpture, 2021
Strangeways Riot
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Forest Bank, Mixed Media, 2021
Summertime
HM Prison Shotts, Eleanor Smith Communications Commended Award for Painting, 2021
Swimming the Sheep
Llanelli Probation Service, Painting, 2021
Synergy of Pieces
HM Prison Dovegate, Bronze Award for Ceramics, 2021
Talk – You're Not Alone
HM Prison Exeter, Calligraphy, 2021
Thank You, Sir Captain Tom
Bury St Edmunds Probation Service, Mixed Media, 2021
Thanking Staff of NHS
HM Prison Dartmoor, Commended Award for Mixed Media, 2021
The Call

The Call
Littlehampton Probation Service, Commended Award for Poem, 2021, May Turnball Scholar 2019

The Call

I was in that shadowed, lonely place
(my mind a random wanderer in the night)
then, incredibly, you were there too:

us both
not quite together, but talking,
a phonecall, but next to one another;
we knew each other’s voices.

We said what mattered: my sorrys,
your acceptance, your understanding,
the quiet consolation as overwhelming
as the gentleness of it all

until
with sudden, aching dread I knew:
‘This is a dream, isn’t it?’ I said.
The line was dead.
The Cat in the Scene
Chase Farm Hospital, Zelda Cheatle Commended Award for Painting, 2021
The Covid Shop
HM Prison Oakwood, Gold Award for Drawing, 2021
The Dancers
HM Prison Glenochil, Painting, 2021
The Governor's House
Llanelli Probation Service, Painting, 2021
The Haywain
HM Prison Dumfries, Fay & Malcolm Payne Commended Award for Sculpture, 2021
The Judge
HM Prison Lincoln, Good-Sothinathan Commended Award for Painting, 2021
The Long Wait
Sandwell Probation Service, Sir Stephen & Lady Winifred Tumim Gold Award for Drawing, 2021
The Quiet Life
HM Prison Edinburgh, Pastel, 2021
The Rest of My Life...
Bracton Centre (secure mental health unit), Painting, 2021
The Table

The Table
HM Prison Ashfield, Gold Award for Poem, 2021

The Table

Here sits a man in a room.
It is not his room, but it will have to do for now.
The table at which he sits is not his either,
but it is enough.

On the table, maps of the world
which he reads with enthusiasm and nostalgia,
navigating between memories and dreams,
reliving sights, sounds and intentions.

The maps now have been carefully folded away.
On the table, a collection of belongings;
landmarks in the memory of a life
loved and lost.

Sometimes there are books on the table;
some read, some not, some not yet written.
Thrillers, adventures, autobiographies
echoing his past and his future.

In a moment of weakness, the table bears food;
a veritable feast.
He can remember the tastes
and the internal glow of chilled wine.

Of course, none of it is real,
except the table itself and his imagination.
Although this life is real enough,
and it will have to do for now.
The Worried Mind
Koestler Arts Mentoring Scheme, Portrait, 2021
This is Me
HM Young Offender Institution Cookham Wood, Fast Feedback Commended Award for Portrait, 2021
Those Who Care
HM Prison Castle Huntly, Portrait, 2021
Three Ladies
HM Prison Shotts, Painting, 2021
Through My Window
HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Styal, Craft, 2021
Together
HM Prison Bronzefield, Gill Hope Retirement Highly Commended Award for Themed Category: Together, 2021
Together - Walking with My Boy
HM Prison Whatton, Painting, 2021
Together - Watching
HM Prison Isle of Wight (Albany), Themed Category: Together, 2021
Together and Diverse the Better
HM Prison Full Sutton, Unilink Gold Award for Mixed Media, 2021
Together at Last
HM Prison Edinburgh, Jill Edge Bronze Award for Themed Category: Together, 2021
Together in Prayer
HM Prison Peterborough, Themed Category: Together, 2021
Together Under the Skies
HM Prison Peterborough, Themed Category: Together, 2021
Together We Will Keep Safe
HM Prison Peterborough, Sculpture, 2021
Together With My Thoughts
HM Prison Usk, Bronze Award for Painting, 2021
Togetherness
HM Prison Lewes, Victor Roberts Highly Commended Award for Themed Category: Together, 2021
Too Late
HM Prison Gartree, Commended Award for Painting, 2021
Two Sides to Every Story
HM Prison Glenochil, Commended Award for Painting, 2021
Union Tram
HM Prison Glenochil, Matchstick Model, 2021
Unknown to Me
HM Prison Humber, Commended Award for Portrait, 2021
Unmasked
HM Prison Barlinnie, Highly Commended Award for Drawing, 2021
Untitled 1
The State Hospital, Portrait, 2021
Untitled 2
The State Hospital, Portrait, 2021
View From My Window
HM Prison Shotts, Commended Award for Painting, 2021
Walk Away
Fieldhead Hospital, Commended Award for Painting, 2021
Walk Mi Dog
HM Prison Long Lartin, Painting, 2021
Walls

Walls
HM Young Offender Centre Hydebank Wood, Victoria Dickie Under-25s Special Award for Poem, 2021

Walls

Beyond these grilles
behind this door
and walls within my view

I’ve fought my demons
and done my time
ready to start anew.

I’ve used these bricks
to build new walls
and found something true

I’ll rise to freedom
and find my voice
well beyond this view.
We Two Are One
HM Prison Edinburgh, Themed Category: Together, 2021
We Were Once Together
HM Prison Channings Wood, Themed Category: Together, 2021
What Next
St Mary’s Hospital, Portrait, 2021
Who is the Imposter?
HM Prison Long Lartin, Painting, 2021
Windmill
HM Prison Rye Hill, Matchstick Model, 2021