On My Plate

Koestler Arts is the UK’s best-known prison arts charity. They have been championing and exhibiting artwork from the criminal justice system for 60 years. This exhibition is in partnership with the University of Surrey’s ESRC-funded Doing Porridge project – a large sociological study putting a spotlight on women’s experiences of food across four UK prisons. On My Plate exhibits a mixture of pieces entered into the annual Koestler Awards for arts in criminal justice, and artistic outcomes from the Doing Porridge project.

The result of this collaboration between Koestler Arts and the University of Surrey is a creative, culinary exhibition about food inside and outside the criminal justice system. Every artwork on display was made in a women’s prison, young offender institution or by women in secure hospitals. Their vibrant creations reveal the many memories and meanings that food can hold – joyful, tantalizing, nostalgic, complicated… The materials used are often inventive and resourceful, from snack wrappers to Marmite!

On My Plate spans two ground-floor galleries at South Hill Park – the Mirror Gallery and the Studio Gallery. Visitors can also explore the rest of this lively arts centre, which is home to two theatres, a cinema, artist studios and a café, all set within beautiful parkland.