Koestler Arts: Night Owls and Abstractions

The Koestler Awards is an annual programme encouraging people from the UK’s criminal justice system to change their lives through the arts.

Poet and playwright Inua Ellams has been working with Koestler this year as exhibition curator.

From over 7,500 entries this year received from across the country, Ellams has selected around 200 artworks, which he hopes challenge preconceptions of the kind of art you’d expect to be created in secure settings.

In the works on display in this engaging and unique exhibition, humour and colour sit alongside sadness and monochromatic designs, and a variety of textile works emphasise the importance of softness in hard places.

While curating the exhibition, Ellams was struck by the many depictions of owls and what they might represent to people in these settings. ‘To me, these night birds are symbolic of what it means to be behind bars, looking out, thinking and searching for clarity that often only comes at night,’ he says.

Free guided exhibition tours

Look out for regular guided tours of the exhibition that highlight the importance of the role that the creative arts play within the criminal justice system. Some of these tours are led by guides who have their own personal experiences of the criminal justice system.

Guided tours take place: Wed at 4pm and 6pm, Fri at 6pm, Sat, Sun at 3pm and 4pm