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Con artists who defy death of the spirit

Prison is a place for punishment and reform writes Sunita Rappai. But it’s also the birthplace of great art
IN a crowded exhibition hall, Paul Ashton is showing me a colourful painting of Tony Blair in a hooded top which he sent to Downing Street earlier this year.
“It was around the time that they were attacking people who wear hoodies and I just thought the whole thing was stupid,” he says. “I wear a hooded top sometimes I thought I’d send him a painting of him in one.”
Ashton could be just another artist and the Koestler Trust exhibition just another exhibition, if it wasn’t for one thing. Ashton is currently a resident of the Tony Hillis medium secure unit for people suffering with personality disorders.
That fact is what makes the Koestler awards, now in their 43rd year, unique.
All the art on display – and there is a huge range of every conceivable art form – is done by men and women held in our prisons, young offender institutions and other secure units, ranging from Broadmoor to Holloway.
This year, as Baroness Scotland of Asthal, QC, minister for criminal justice, opened the annual exhibition that marks the event in St Mary Abbott’s Hall in Kensington, the invited guests and VIPs were able to take in some of the 4,000 entries for the awards, submitted from prisons and institutions around the country.
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Look for vintage not barcode

WE are in the middle of a revolution in food. Farmers’ markets and small shops specialising in naturally produced and seasonal produce are challenging the supermarkets.
When it comes to wine, however, we are going in the opposite direction.
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... and another thing....

Typical isn’t it? You leave the country for a few days and when you get back everything you thought you knew is wrong.
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