Documentary project
This charity documentary video production was one of a series of films I made over five years commissioned by the Koester Trust. Mercury Prize-winning rapper Speech Debelle was to curate the Art by Offenders 2013 exhibition. As a charity filmmaker, I was to document the process and deliver an edited film to help convey her ideas.
Filming
During July and August 2013, Speech visited the Koestler Trust Arts Centre in London and selected a range of artworks for the annual exhibition. I spent many days filming Speech as she viewed the thousands of artworks and formulated her creative response. The Koestler Trust Arts Center is in an old prison governor’s house. All the submitted artworks were presented across all four floors of the building. I fitted Speech with a radio mic and then filmed her as she moved through the building, exploring the submitted pieces. As the curating process moved forward, Speech decided to call the exhibition The Strength & Vulnerability Bunker.
Concept overview
The 2013 exhibition invited you to enter an atmospheric bunker filled with images, objects, sounds and films that reveal personal reflections, regrets and hopes. From thousands of entries to the 2013 Koestler Awards, Mercury Prize-winning rapper Speech Debelle selected artworks that she felt should be preserved as a testament to the importance of human creation.
Exhibition opening
Jeremy Deller, Turner Prize-winning artist and Britain’s representative at the 2013 Venice Biennale, opened the exhibition on September 24th and which ran until 1st December 2013. For the first time, ex-offenders were recruited, trained and employed by the Koestler trust as exhibition hosts. Working alongside Southbank Centre staff they welcomed visitors and conducted tours throughout the ten-week exhibition run.
Charity documentary video production
This film, which was on display within the exhibition, explained how Speech selected the artworks from all the entries to the 2013 Koestler Awards. The film also explained her concept to visitors of the exhibition. Another example of my charity documentary video production was delivered for the Carnival Sector and funded by the Arts Council.
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