Staring at the walls

Medium

Text

Form

Poem

Artist / Maker

Mark, HMP/YOI Lincoln

Staring at the walls
Interesting graffiti
Spelling not good

Open the window
Sorry mate, really must go Must be the soup

Rough orange blanket
Barely keeps away the cold
Still cannot sleep

Drifting off to sleep
Loud flapping of many wings
Fucking pigeons

 

– Mark, 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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