Written by Amanda David
The Koestler Awards is an annual programme encouraging people from the UK’s prison system to communicate and change their lives through art. The exhibition features works by prisoners, secure mental health patients, immigration detainees and other individuals in secure settings from the UK and abroad.
The 2025 exhibition is curated by Nigerian-born British poet, playwright and performer Inua Ellams. The idea for the title Night Owls and Abstractions comes from the many images of owls that Ellams came across as he was curating the exhibition, the idea of what they might represent, and how darkness might have ‘the ability to amplify the imagination’.
Open:
Tuesday–Wednesday: 10am-8pm
Thursday: 10am–5pm
Friday–Sunday: 10am–8pm
Free tours are available with ex-prisoner exhibition hosts, employed by Koestler Arts, working alongside Southbank Centre Visitor Assistants. The hosts will share their personal experience and insights about the artworks to help visitors understand more about them and the environment that underlies them.
Times:
Wednesday: 2pm & 6pm (no tours on Wed 13 Nov)
Friday: 6pm
Saturday & Sunday: 3pm & 4pm
- 344 m from Waterloo Jubilee LineBakerloo LineNorthern LineWaterloo & City LineHounslow Loop Line
- 433 m from Embankment District LineCircle LineBakerloo LineNorthern Line
- 0.6 km from Temple District LineCircle Line
