On until the end of October, this absorbing project is another triumph for Artangel and well worth the trip. Our visit lasted half a day (and that was without hearing the full live reading of Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis)
Artists, writers and performers have produced work on the loss of liberty, shown in the cells, corridors and chapel within the prison itself.
Doris Salcedo presented Plegaria Muda, with shoots of grass growing through tiny holes in a series of tables
hope and the promise of something better to come. The prison was decommissioned in 2013 so you can see the cells much as they were when in use.
Within one sits Marlene Dumas‘ painting of Oscar Wilde, Reading’s most famous inmate,
alongside Bosie.
The history of Reading prison is also shown; these ID photos of inmates before release were taken as a record in case they re-offended. Note that hands were considered important for identification even before fingerprinting.
More to follow in a later post.