Public exhibitions of prison art in Auckland

14 February 2011
Prisoner artworks, made for various prison art competitions and exhibitions throughout 2010, form the basis of two public exhibitions of art by prisoners in Mount Eden and Auckland Central Remand Prisons (MEACRP).

This initiative is the first of its kind for this Auckland prison. The first of these exhibitions at the Kumeu Art Centre in the Rodney District of Auckland ran from 13 December until 14 February. It featured 55 artworks made by 35 prisoners. These were works made for the ICCPPC International Prison Art Exhibition and Competition, the Matariki competition, the New Zealand Bible Society exhibition and the Department of Corrections' annual Christmas card competition in 2010.
  
The second exhibition of the work, the MEACRP Charity Prisoner Art Exhibition, opens for two weeks from Friday 11 March at the Mount Eden Community Hall.

The exhibitions are the initiatives of Programmes Co-ordinator Nazara Rafik and Auckland artist, prison art tutor and curator Libby Patterson.
 
Libby Patterson, who has been involved with the Kumeu Art Centre since its inception, says: “I was pleased to be able to curate an exhibition and show communities a wide variety of prison art and attempt to dispel preconceived notions about it. For me, the work showed huge cultural diversity among Māori, Pacific Island, European and Western ideas and work.”

Nazara Rafik says the proceeds from the sale of work at the Mount Eden Community Hall will be donated to CANTEEN, the teenage cancer project.