I’d be waking up cold

Medium

Text

Form

Interview quote

Artist / Maker

Prisoner, HMP/YOI Lincoln

The heating was on on that side of the wing, but on this side it wasn’t on. And it was like that then for the next two months… I was having to wear three sets of clothes, a jacket, one of the duffels, around, and then my sheets wrapped around me as well and a blanket. Actually I had to have two of the big orange blankets. I literally could barely move the way I was wrapped up. But I had to sleep like that. And I’d be waking up cold, you can feel inside you, shivering.

– Prisoner, HMP/YOI Lincoln

Why have we collected this work?

We want to understand what these prisons are like to live and work in, and how has this changed over time. We are examining the ways that these prison buildings carry traces of the past, while operating in the present day.

The project considers how and why these buildings have survived for so long, and asks how we will know when they have reached the end of their operational lives. We consider the significance of the Victorian prison in shaping public and professional ideas of what prison should be like. Crucially, this project explores the implications of the continued operation of Victorian-era prisons for the contemporary prison service, and aims to inform policy development.

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