My retirement so far, could never be described as being dull or uninteresting. The latest opportunity to emerge is being asked “Doug, fancy curating an art exhibition?”. Well, you never quite know where these things might lead, so why not.
This has been a slow burner. I have met Phil a couple of times in the last few months and we knew each other a little in our professional lives. Originally our paths crossed by chance one day and we both knew Robert. It is fair to say, we’re all quite different from each other and yet we still have quite a few things in common.
So what’s this all about? In a nutshell, there’s a certain project underway, Made Visible, which will enable prisoners to express themselves through art. Nothing new in that. Except that when the art is exhibited alongside art produced by ordinary artists in the community. Could you tell which was which? Why? How? Are you sure?
Mix this in with elements of resettlement, society accepting and welcoming those who have offended against it back into a local community and you have a challenging proposition. Where could this lead? How could it change those who are on either side of the prison gate?
The answer? I’ll keep you posted.