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Almost Home: Unique exhibition showcases the 'pain and hope' of women in prison

Almost Home has been co-curated by women in HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Low Newton

A new exhibition by the UK’s best-known prison arts charity Koestler Arts showcases artwork, music and writing made in criminal justice settings in the North East of England

Almost Home has been co-curated by women at HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Low Newton. Whereas previous Koestler Arts exhibitions have been curated by art icons including Grayson Perry RA, Turner Prize-winner Jeremy Deller and acclaimed poet Benjamin Zephaniah, Almost Home saw the role handed to four female prisoners. 

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They selected 70 artworks from among 300 submissions, every one of them made by someone in prison, a young offender institution, secure hospital, or under supervision in the community. 

One co-curator comments: “What stood out to me was the raw talent of prisoners. The pain and hope expressed through their artwork. I was very inspired.”

The artwork pictured above, Fresh Start, provides a wonderful and essential message for the cover of the Big Issue magazine this week. It’s by a detainee at HM Prison and Young Offender Institution Low Newton. It received the Tom Barnard Highly Commended Award for Calligraphy, 2024.

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

Here are some more prison artworks from the Almost Home exhibition

The Colourful Weather, HM Prison Durham
From Now On Love Time Out, HM Prison Northumberland, matchstick model
Love Hands HM Prison Northumberland, Highly Commended Award for Sculpture
Roller Coaster, Northgate Hospital

The Almost Home exhibition runs at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, 19 February–11 May.

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