Koestler Arts (formerly The Koestler Trust) is a charity which helps ex-offenders, secure patients and detainees in the UK to express themselves creatively. It promotes the arts in prisons, secure hospitals, immigration centres and in the community, encouraging creativity and the acquisition of new skills as a means to

rehabilitation Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to: Health * Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished * Rehabilitation (wildlife), treatment of injured wildlife so they can be retur ...

. The Koestler awards were founded in 1962 and the organisation became a charitable trust in 1969 following a bequest from the British-Hungarian author, Arthur Koestler.

Koestler's prison experience

Koestler had been detained in three jails in separate countries. In Spain, he was sentenced to death in 1936 for espionage under

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

's regime. He witnessed many executions, and was held in solitary confinement. He was arrested in France a few years later and held in the Le Vernet Internment Camp for subversion. He was released and fled to England, where he was held at Pentonville as a suspected illegal immigrant.

Creation of the Koestler Trust

Koestler's experiences in prison led him to write '' Darkness at Noon'' and newspaper articles campaigning for the abolition of capital punishment in the 1950s. He also tried to change the experience of incarceration, stating that in prison, "the main problem is apathy, depression and gradual

dehumanisation Dehumanization is the denial of full humanness in others and the cruelty and suffering that accompanies it. A practical definition refers to it as the viewing and treatment of other persons as though they lack the mental capacities that are c ...

. The spark dies." Koestler spoke of being intellectually understimulated and terrorized in prison, and wanted to provide "an imaginative and exciting way to stimulate as far as possible and in as many cases as possible the mind and spirit of the prisoner." In 1962, Koestler arranged the Arthur Koestler Award through the Home Office of the United Kingdom, to award monetary prizes for artistic achievement to prisoners, detainees, and psychiatric patients. Following a donation from Koestler, it became a charitable trust in 1969. Koestler gave a further bequest of £10,000 on his death. The trust became Koestler Arts in 2019.

Koestler Arts today

Today the Koestler Awards cover over 50 artforms, across music, writing, crafts, design, performance and fine art. Each category is judged by panels of experts from the art world. All entrants receive a certificate and written feedback on their work, and each category is judged by panels of experts from the art world, with prizes ranging from £25 to £100 (as of the 2018 awards). In descending order, prize tiers are usually platinum, gold, silver and bronze, with a special youth award, first time participant, commended and highly commended awards also available. An annual exhibition programme is curated separately and held at Southbank Centre. Recent curators of the UK exhibition include

Grayson Perry Grayson Perry (born 1960) is an English contemporary artist, writer and broadcaster. He is known for his ceramic vases, tapestries, and cross-dressing, as well as his observations of the contemporary arts scene, and for dissecting British "pre ...

, Sarah Lucas,

Anthony Gormley Sir Antony Mark David Gormley (born 30 August 1950) is a British sculptor. His works include the ''Angel of the North'', a public sculpture in Gateshead in the north of England, commissioned in 1994 and erected in February 1998; ''Another Pl ...

Speech Debelle Corynne Elliot (born 17 March 1983 in London, England), better known as Speech Debelle, is a British rapper signed to the Big Dada record label. She was the winner of the 2009 Mercury Prize for her debut album ''Speech Therapy''. She released h ...

and Jeremy Deller as well as victims of crime, magistrates, women prisoners and ex-prisoners. In 2017, British sculptor Anthony Gormley said, The charity also holds locally focused exhibitions - recent shows include ''Snail Porridge'' at Castlefield Gallery in Manchester (2014) curated by

Bob and Roberta Smith Patrick Brill (born 1963), better known by his pseudonym Bob and Roberta Smith, is a British contemporary artist, writer, author, musician, art education advocate, and keynote speaker. He is known for his "slogan" art, is an associate professor ...

, ''Release'' at Glasgow's Tramway (arts centre), curated by Kibble Secure Centre and the first exhibition in the south east of England held at

Turner Contemporary Turner Contemporary is one of the UK’s leading contemporary art galleries. Celebrating Margate’s connection with the painter J.M.W. Turner (1775 – 1851), an artist who believed that art could be an agent of change, its year-round exhibition ...

gallery and curated by ex-offenders themselves. The charity has also held exhibitions as part of the annual Edinburgh Festival which involved work from people in Scottish prisons and secure units. Koestler Arts also runs mentoring programmes for people who wish to continue in the arts after release from prison or other secure settings. Artwork by the prisoners and others is available for sale direct to the public through the trust's exhibitions, with proceeds split between the Artists (50%), Victim Support (25%) and the charity (25%). Individual donors and businesses may also sponsor an award within the Koestler judging categories. Koestler Arts is funded by grants from the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), as part of

HM Prison and Probation Service His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) responsible for the correctional services in England and Wales. It was created in 2004 as the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) by combin ...

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three s ...

and donations from many private individuals, organisations and businesses.

Koestler Arts annual national exhibition

Each year the charity holds an annual award exhibition at the Southbank Centre, London, for which a themed category is suggested for prisoners to submit art works during the preceding months. In recent years the themed category has also had an independent judge and award. Submitted works are given a 'K number' for purposes of exhibition and sale, the location the artwork was submitted from is publicly displayed with any title or age category, but names are removed (although first names can be added on request). Not all submissions are available for sale depending on the preference of the artist. For the 2018 exhibition around 220 art works were exhibited at the Southbank Centre show, which included art, sculpture, creative crafts, printmaking, written and spoken word, music and film. Exhibition titles, curators and themes for recent years are listed below: *2011: ''Art by Offenders'', judged by Magistrates' Association, with guidance from

Emma Bridgewater Emma Bridgewater is a British ceramics manufacturing company founded in 1985 which is named after Emma Rice (''née'' Bridgewater). It is run by her and her husband Matthew Rice. Noted for their polka dot design among others, the company "Emma B ...

and Will Self
Theme was 'help!' and the theme category was judged by journalist Jeremy Paxman *2012: ''Free'', curated by artist Sarah Lucas.
Theme was '50', to acknowledge the 50th anniversary of Koestler Trust *2013: ''The Strength and Vulnerability bunker'', curated by rapper

.
Theme was 'forgiveness' and the theme category was judged by theatre director Jude Kelly *2014: ''Catching Dreams'', curated by previous Koestler award entrants.
Theme was 'dreams' and the category awarded by Olympic athlete Katherine Grainger *2015: ''Re:Form'', curated by

Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge). It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nat ...

and the Koestler Trust, including Jeremy Deller, Carol Ann Duffy, Speech Debelle and

Hot Chip Hot Chip are an English synthpop band formed in London in 1995. The group consists of multi-instrumentalists Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard, Al Doyle, Owen Clarke, and Felix Martin. They are occasionally joined by former member Rob Smoughton for ...

.
Theme was 'journey' and the theme category was voted by social media followers *2016: ''We Are All Human'', curated by poet Benjamin Zephaniah.
Theme was 'comfort' and the theme category was voted by social media followers *2017: ''Inside'', curated by sculptor

.
Theme was 'inside' and the theme category was also judged by Gormley *2018: ''I'm Still Here'', curated by families who have a relative in prison
Theme was 'connections' and the theme category was judged by actor Reggie Yates *2019: ''Another Me'', curated by Soweto Kinch.

References

{{Arthur Koestler

External links