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An awesome and ridiculous film that leaves you thrilled beyond the point of your natural endurance
2012
Theatre
The show has suddenly become quite wonderful, and the galvanising factor is the terrific stage debut of Melanie C
Blood Brothers
Music
The British pop music industry may be eating itself but if Muse are the pick of what it can offer the world in 2010 then British music is in rude health indeed
Muse
I was smitten by both Gilberts enormous luxuriant moustache and the intelligence and nuance of this highly entertaining play
I totally recommend Babbo to anyone who is looking for really good and traditional Italian food
Always been a fan but never seen them live. I was ecstatic to be part of this epic event. WOW!
London,
Sue Steward's rating
Reader rating
Description: Work by prisoners and people confined in other institutions, featuring paintings, ceramics, textiles, drawing and other media.
Phone: 0207930 3647
Website: www.ica.org.uk
Trains: Tube: Charing Cross 
Papier-mache justice: Puppetmaster detail
Walking through this collection of the shortlisted entries from the annual Koestler Awards scheme offers privileged access to the invisible subconscious life of more than 200 depersonalised residents of prisons, young-offender centres, psychiatric hospitals and immigration removal centres.
The works - many of them anonymous - are inspiring, amusing, skilful, mournful, profound and often breathtakingly ingenious, constructed with limited materials, including paper and card, clay, matches (an unimaginably fiddly crane and containers), carved soap, false nails (gorgeous miniature paintings), and a meticulous origami samurai killing dragons. Most commercially brilliant is the Monopoly game set in Lewes Prison.
Everyday reality is understandably less popular than escapism; an exquisite drawing of Dartmoor's exercise yard bursting with tension contrasts with C Dyer & D Mewell's inmate watching TV on his bed. The anonymous Futility and Depression, a self-portrait from Dartmoor, is an important reality check. Home, an iconic sleeping figure wrapped in blankets on a pavement, constructed from recycled card, makes a link with institutional life. Fleeing reality leads to beautifully executed cartoon stills, holiday memories, and zany, fantasy animals (Demented Pheasant).
A bowl inspired by Grayson Perry is an incongruously lyrical tribute among the many crafted works (a postage-stamp collage of Bob Marley, two Daleks, a papier-m‚ché dog from Holloway, painted and embroidered hangings, which include "Black History") reflecting the insider populations.
This annual event is always a unique opportunity to experience the creative energy exploding behind bars. Unmissable.
Until 9 September. Information: www.ica.org.uk, www.koestlertrust.org.uk; 020 7766 1404.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
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