Prisoner art contributes to earthquake fund

23 April 2012
More than $21,000 will be donated to the Christchurch Earthquake Mayoral Relief Fund, thanks to last month’s auction of 140 artworks created by 75 prisoners across the three Canterbury prisons: Christchurch Men’s Prison, Christchurch Women’s Prison and Rolleston Prison.

Entitled Rū Whenua Whakaaro: Thoughts of the Earthquake, the exhibition and auction were developed in response to a prisoner’s request to be able to give something back to Christchurch and the wider community in the wake of the September 2010 earthquake.

Bill Moore, Residential Manager, Christchurch Men’s Prison, said the prisoners felt a great sense of achievement when they learned they had raised so much money for the community.

“When the earthquakes struck, the men felt helpless, both for themselves and for their families,” he said. “One of the prisoners told me that some of them wanted to raise some money by donating artworks, and that’s how it all started.”

The prisoner who sparked the idea of the auction, along with a prisoner who contributed a number of artworks, presented the cheque to Steve Berry, Regional Manager – Southern, Rehabilitation & Reintegration Services.

This will be forwarded to the Christchurch Earthquake Mayoral Relief Fund, to which individuals or groups can apply for projects to rebuild the community.

Steve Berry says art programmes can form part of a prisoner’s rehabilitation. “I am impressed by the depth of talent that many prisoners have. This auction was a way for them to give back to their community and to help Christchurch rebuild. It was also a great opportunity for people to own an original piece of art at an affordable price.”

Corina Hazlett, art tutor at Christchurch Men’s Prison and exhibition curator, says the exhibition and auction were an ideal vehicle for the community to learn more about the role of art in supporting prisoners’ rehabilitation.

“There were more than 300 people at the auction and a great mix of prisoner families, VIP guests, older people and even some children,” she says.

Regrowth, rebuilding and new beginnings

The theme of the exhibition and auction was “Ka hanga rua te ao hou: mai i ngā pereki tawhito” (Recreate the new world: from the bricks of the old). It spoke about the rebuild of Canterbury and also the prisoner’s own emotional journey toward rehabilitation. It emphasised regrowth, rebuilding and new beginnings.

As soon as Corina saw the artwork on display in Spreydon Baptist Church, she knew that all the hard work over the previous ten months had paid off.

“This was one of the most sincere, inspirational and heartfelt exhibitions I’ve been involved in during my 20 years as a practising artist,” she says. “All of the comments were very encouraging and positive, and there were tears of emotion from prisoners’ families and also from purchasers of the artworks.”
 
Among the comments were words such as “astounding”, “colourful”, “a huge surprise”, “talented”, “fabulous display”, and “When is next year’s exhibition? We want to come again”.

“As the curator, I was careful to choose a range of media,” Corina says. “There were hand sewing and printing of cushions, origami, acrylic and pastel artworks, claywork and pottery, pencil drawings; and traditional and contemporary carvings that have been carved from wood donated from Christchurch’s red zone.”

Sense of pride

Corina says there was an amazing sense of pride among the prisoners in being able to contribute. “One prison artist said that ‘It was a great feeling to be able to contribute and it also showed that prisoners and staff are able to work together to gain positive outcomes’.”
 
Creating the art also helped the prisoners express their sorrow, feelings and anxieties about what had happened to them and their families during and after the earthquakes.

The prisoners were each given a copy of their artwork with a letter of thanks, and a copy of the catalogue.