The Tribune

By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features Reporter

acadet@tribunemedia.net

GIVING ART enthusiasts a glimpse of the impressive level of creativity that goes on behind bars, members of a local support organisation presented their first annual Her Majesty’s Prison Art and Crafts Show.


‘The Family: People Helping People’ group last week played host an the exciting night filled with art and fun at the New Providence Community Centre on Blake Road.
On display were works by inmates of the rehabilitation section at Her Majesty’s Prison – everything from ceramics and paintings to straw and wood works.
‘The Family’ is a year-long programme created by Bahamian psychologist Dr David Allen that uses faith-based interventions to help stem the tide of anger and violence taking a toll on Bahamian society.
Andre Chappelle, administrative director of ‘The Family’, said the inspiration to bring the idea of this unique art show to life came as a result of their rehabilitation programme with the prison.
“While we were up there one day, waiting for one of the buses to take us to the main gate, we were taken on a tour of the inmate enterprises unit. They had their own little area where they created all of these wonderful gifts, ceramics, paintings, handbags and wood work. We were just blown away by the quality of the work and just the therapeutic aspect of it,” he told Tribune Arts and Entertainment.

As far as rehabilitation is concerned, Mr Chappelle said serving time in prison is one thing, but when an inmate can do something that really builds their self-esteem, it helps make them better people.
“Men were created to be producing things and when you take that from them you almost take away their own sense of value and identity. When we saw this, here they were creating all of these beautiful things and not getting any recognition for them, that is when we decided to get them some exposure,” said Mr Chappelle.
The art show, he said, gave the participants a sense of purpose.
Having had the experience of being told he would never amount to anything his life, Mr Chappelle said he found that being given a purpose also gave him a sense of hope in his personal life.
“If you give someone a goal, they will govern themselves in order to achieve that goal. If they don’t see any future for themselves, they won’t bother. So when you show them their value, you give them power to be better human beings. You can show them that they can make a difference. Those gifts and talents were already inside of those men, they just didn’t know how to develop them. And there are hundred and thousands of young men in the Bahamas who are just as talented, who are not in prison. Nobody is showing them how to develop their talents and to make those gifts and talent profitable for themselves,” said Mr Chappelle.
With at least eight tables filled with more than 100 pieces of various art works, Mr Chappelle said he realised just how much potential there is within the prison walls.
“A lot of people look at that place and say they should be locked up and the keys thrown away and forever forgotten, but I don’t think that is the right course of action. Some of these people are going to come out and when they come out they are going to be very frustrated and angry people. If you can empower them so that there is some sort of reformation, they can then become productive members of society,” Mr Chappelle said.
“Say you do make a mistake and you get locked up and sentenced to prison, that doesn’t mean that it is a death sentence for your life. You can learn from your mistakes and while you are in prison you can actually gain some tools so that when you do come back to society, you can become a productive member of society.”

After receiving great feedback at the exhibition opening last week, Mr Chappelle said there is no doubt that the show will be bigger and better next year.