STORY by KATIE BASTIANS
ART can have a rehabilitative quality, especially for many in prison who may not be able to read and write so well.
So says the Prison Fellowship’s Rod Williams who says he’s gobsmacked by the talent and thought-provoking artwork being conjured by WA prisoners in the annual art show, which will be on display in St Georges Cathedral from July 2 to 8.
“It’s a brilliant way for the guys, many of whom have difficulty reading, writing and verbalising but can pour their hearts out on canvass at night in their cells,” enthused Mr Williams.
“Some never knew they were artists until they got to prison and now some are doing degrees in fine arts, there is one lady doing her masters.”
Art critic and national competition judge, Dr George Petelin, described the annual Prison Fellowship Art Exhibition as an example of ‘the redemptive power of Art’.
The imprisoned artists often save for many months to buy the materials they need for their paintings and sculptures.
Last year a WA prisoner went on to win first prize in the national competition, which was held in Brisbane.
A harrowing painting is accompanied by this written description: “I feel lost and alone, it feels like all my family and society don’t want to know about me, they have forgotten me….sometimes I feel like the whole world has turned against me, I feel like I’m in a bottomless pit, broken and lost and crying out in my heart for the Lord to remember me.”
“It’s of an Aboriginal fellow in prison, you can see him sitting in his cell and outside the bars you can see planet Earth in distance,” Mr Williams explains, adding the theme for this year’s exhibition’s theme is “Lord Remember Me”.
Mr Williams says its “not a problem” if all inmates aren’t Christian, adding Aboriginals who unfortunately make up a disproportionate number, warm to the topic nicely.
‘They understand spirituality far better than other cultures and this is a good way to express their understanding,” adding their spiritual teachings “overflow” into
Christianity which is enhanced by the Aboriginal population’s close contact with missions and churches for their support services.
Mr Williams took a stab at European philosophers such as Descarte with his “I think therefore I am” philosophy.
“Aboriginals don’t think this way, they know there are spirits, so we teach them about the Holy Spirit and then they understand.
“It’s easier for them to understand than Europeans who have been misled by philosophies that come up with world teachings, and ones that leave god out of equation.
“No matter how clever science and philosophical teachings are, they will go in the wrong direction sadly.
No, I think (God and science) are the same,” Mr Williams said when the Voice asked him if he believed the two could co-exist.
“If God created the world and everything in it then it is his invention, and so why should I be afraid of it?”
