THE KOESTLER AWARDS the art awards scheme for arts by offenders, secure patients and detainees
The Koestler Awards is an annual awards scheme run by the Koestler Trust – the UK’s best-known prison arts charity. Fruits of My Labour HM Prison Grendon Transformation Commended Award for Sculpture 2016
They’ve been awarding , exhibiting and selling artworks by offenders, detainees and secure patients for 55 years. Connect the Dots HM Young Offender Institution Werrington Under 18s Special Award for Painting 2016
They aim to help people lead more positive lives by motivating them to participate and achieve in the arts . MT-09 Makes The News HM Prison Rye Hill Highly Commended Award for Craft 2016
Each year the Koestler Awards receive around 7,000 entries . Over 2,000 awards are given by the judges. Every entrant gets a certificate and many receive feedback on their work. There is £30,000 prize money ranging from £20 for a Bronze Award to £100 for a Platinum Award . PLUS there are 100 additional £25 prizes for first-time entrants this Swans Stockton Hall Hospital year! Keith Bromley Platinum Award for Photography 2016
51 different categories to enter… Peacock FINE ART CATEGORIES The Priory Hospital Middleton St George Mixed Media 2016 Painting Photography Watercolour and Gouache Ceramics Drawing Textile Art Pastel Arts Project Portrait Mixed Media Sculpture Digital Art Graphic Novel Mural and Wall Hanging Watching Printmaking HM Prison Rye Hill My Favourites , HM Young Offender Institution Aylesbury, Painting 2016 Gold Award for Drawing, 2016
CRAFT & DESIGN CATEGORIES Handmade Book Calligraphy Greetings Card Graphic Design Matchstick Model Craft Perihelion, HM Prison Glenochil, Silver Award for Handmade Book, 2016 Woodcraft Furniture Needlecraft Fashion Hairstyling Magic Mixture HM Prison & Young Offender Beauty Institution Cornton Vale Sweet Sendsation , HM Prison Send (women’s establishment), Commended Award for Beauty David Wentworth Gold Award for Needlecraft, 2016 2015
WRITING CATEGORIES Flash Fiction and Short Story Longer Fiction and Novel Non-Fiction Life Story Braille Poem Poetry Collection Anthology Stage Play Radio Play Screen Play We Will Find Solace Song Writing HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Littlehey Silver Award for Poem 2016
PERFORMANCE, AUDIO & FILM CATEGORIES Spoken Word Performance Radio Production Music Composition Choral Music Singer-Songwriter – Original Cover Version Instrumental Rap, Hip Hop and Grime Computer Generated Music Film Animation …there is something for everyone!
What happens at The Koestler Arts Centre The Koestler Arts Centre is based outside of HMP Wormwood Scrubs, West London.
From January - 14 April thousands of entries arrive at The Koestler Arts Centre.
The entries are unwrapped and in May the house is prepared for judging.
In June judges come in to look at all of the work and give out the awards. Entries will be judged by experts such as Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller , ceramic designer Emma Bridgewater , and documentary filmmaker Louis Theroux .
JUDGES’ TOP 5 TIPS! • Show originality in your ideas and concepts • Make work that you know and care about • Be experimental in use of colour and/or composition • Be inspired by other peoples’ work • Do not be put off by criticism Perception HM Prison Peterborough Gold Award for Printmaking 2015
Koestler Awards National Exhibition After the awards are given out, the national exhibition is held in autumn at Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre , London. The exhibition attracts 20,000 visitors ; it shows the public the talent and potential of people in secure settings.
We Are All Human The 2016 Koestler Awards National Exhibition curated by writer, dub poet and musician Benjamin Zephaniah
2017 Koestler Awards National Exhibition ‘INSIDE’ to be curated by artist Antony Gormley Antony Gormley is a famous British artist . He makes sculptures, installations and public artworks that investigate the relationship of the body to space. This year, the theme ‘ INSIDE ’ applies to all artform categories. Antony will select work for the exhibition from all 2017 Koestler Awards entries with the theme in mind. You can, of course, still submit entries on other themes into the Awards. All submissions will be judged by the individual category judges in the usual way. Angel of the North in Gateshead, Antony Gormley, 1998
“ The works can be about your situation now, a cherished dream or a terrible nightmare. Dark or bright, hopeful or despairing, strong or fragile, large or small and in any medium – from a small piece of paper to a sound work, from drawing to model making, film to calligraphic poetry – please help make this exhibition a bold testament to what is happening inside of you . ” - Antony Gormley Discombobulated Heatherwood Court Hospital Caro Millington Highly Commended Award for Mixed Media 2016
How to enter… Request entry forms from your education department or contact the Koestler Trust on 020 8740 0333 or FREEPOST Koestler Trust CLOSING DATE FOR ENTRIES 14 APRIL 2017 The Funky Letter Box Gateshead Youth Offending Team Drawing 2016
We look forward to seeing your creative work!
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