FREEDOM Curated By Ai Weiwei | Michael Armitage

Flexibility
27 October – 18 December 2022
Southbank Centre
Exhibition House, Amount 1
Royal Festival Hall

Koestler Arts is proud and thrilled to announce that their fifteenth Yearly United kingdom Exhibition in partnership with the Southbank Centre this Oct will be curated by Chinese modern artist, documentarian, and activist, Ai Weiwei. 2022 marks the 60^th anniversary of the Koestler Awards and Ai Weiwei desires this landmark exhibition to be ‘the most formidable yet’.

The eyesight for the exhibition is motivated by the artist’s go to to the Koestler Arts developing, which presently holds above 6,500 artworks entered into this year’s Awards. Taken aback by the quantity of artworks and the vary of types on display screen, Ai Weiwei’s principle progressed to be as inclusive as probable and to permit the artwork display how humanity responds when set in serious instances. This year, the exhibition place at the Southbank Centre will be transformed bodily to realise this vision, which will assistance to preserve the ecosystem within which the artworks are manufactured. The purpose is to not ‘translate’ the do the job but to retain the wholeness of it. Ai Weiwei defined this thought with an analogy: he wants to present the forest, not just a branch that comes from it.

All through his curation interval, the artist also frequented HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs, which is situated upcoming to the Koestler Arts Centre. Owning visited lots of prisons all-around the earth, as perfectly as experiencing his individual restriction of independence during a interval of mystery detention and continuous surveillance in China, this extra take a look at to HMP Wormwood Scrubs helped to reinforce and affirm the eyesight for the exhibition.

Ai Weiwei feedback: “This exhibition focuses on the part that the act of considering and creating performs in lifetime below constraints. Notable works of art and literature in record were being made when the artist was restricted, oppressed, and challenged, somewhat than becoming completely totally free. The language and emotions that emerged from these circumstances are considerably a lot more profound, convincing, and potent.

I frequented unique prisons in the Uk and observed the dwelling situations of diverse types of prisoners. I hope that this exhibition can inspire people today to reflect on the loss of freedom and individuals that continue on to produce artwork to fight for space in lifestyle and freedom of expression regardless of adversity.”

Regardless of the significant knock-on outcomes that Covid has had on prisons, which are only now beginning to return to ‘normal’, practically 3,000 artists have labored to build artwork for this year’s Koestler Awards. These figures strengthen the commitment guiding this year’s exhibition.

Mirroring Koestler Arts’ philosophy, Ai Weiwei wrote, “expressing oneself is a section of remaining human. To be deprived of a voice is to be explained to you are not a participant in culture eventually it is a denial of humanity”.

The exhibition will showcase artwork designed by and submitted to the 2022 Koestler Awards by individuals in prisons, safe psychological health services, immigration elimination centres, younger offender institutions and on local community sentences throughout the Uk. The exhibition will be presented to the community by ex-prisoner exhibition hosts who have obtained expert teaching to direct excursions, solution questions and share their very first-hand encounter of the relevance of art and creativity for individuals in just the prison justice method.