- Venue
- Shepton Mallet Prison
- Starts
- Sunday, September 26, 2021
- Ends
- Sunday, October 3, 2021
- Address
- Frithfield Land, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, BA4 5LU
- Location
- South West England
- Organiser
- Luminara Florescu and Amanda Lynch
The thirteen artists – all women – will be based in the cells of C-wing in the 400-year-old prison. The artists will be spending time in the prison to create work inspired by the building and its history.
C-wing was formerly the women’s wing of the prison, and the artists have been inspired by aspects of its history, including the imprisonment of Suffragettes, the prison’s unofficial postal service, the effects of incarceration on women’s health, and the severity of women’s sentences compared to men’s. Each artist has been allocated a cell, where they will be based for their residency.
The residency’s theme of ‘confinement’ has resonance with the current pandemic and the situation of some of the participating artists, who are disabled and have rarely left their homes over the last 18 months because of shielding restrictions. Prison Residencies aims to empower these women to take part in a residency programme at a time when they might otherwise be excluded because of their vulnerable status.
For some of the artists, Prison Residencies will be a ‘live in’ experience including overnight stays in the cells. Others will participate remotely while they are confined to their homes. The programme will provide an opportunity for these women to have their voices heard, and to share the stories of women who have experienced confinement in the past.
Working with a range of artforms, including textiles, film, writing, sculpture, and paper art, the artists will be resident in the old prison building for 16 days. During this time, visitors will be able to talk to the artists and see work in progress.
The Prison Residencies programme is run by artists and co-curators Luminara Florescu and Amanda Lynch in partnership with Shepton Mallet prison and has been featured on BBC Points West, BBC Spotlight, BBC Online and ITV.
Artists Prison Residencies is open to the public from 18th Sept – 3rd Oct 11.00am – 4.00pm daily.
For further information about the project and to book FREE entry tickets to C-Wing please follow link to the project website below.
https://prisonresidencies.wixsite.com/shepton
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/prison_residencies/
