As the prison-based artists survive behind bars, their works soar free in exhibitions and auctions such as last Thursday’s Jail in A(u)ction show at Gaya Art Space in Ubud.

The Bali Nine were arrested in April 2005 following attempts to smuggle eight kilograms of heroin into Australia from Bali.

Curated by Michaela Anselmini of Italy, the art auction of works created in Kerobokan Prison raised more than US$10,000 to ensure the art and craft workshop would continue into the future.

“The art workshop was started around 12 months ago by Myuran, one of the Bali Nine. Myuran put up his own money to create the [art and craft] workshop in jail. They are now producing T-shirts, have their own logo and created the works for this auction,” said Anselmini on the sidelines of the auction that attracted a large crowd of art lovers.

As well as paintings the auction presented silver jewelry wrought in the prison and sculptures.

Anselmini pointed out developing creative skills offered prisoners a potential employment stream on release, so the workshop not only reduces the suffering of prison, but offers hope for the future on the outside.

Opening doors: Curator of the Jail in A(u)ction exhibition at Gaya Art Space in Ubud, Michaela Anselmini (left) with art teacher Theos M.B. Sijrier and silversmith Joanna Witt in front of a collaborative work by Kerobokan Prison inmates. “The Bali Nine are in jail for the rest of their lives, but the other guys [prisoners] can develop and create skills that could offer employment after their prison terms,” said Anselmini adding the money raised from the art auction guaranteed prisoners had continued access to art and craft materials.

The number of prisoners joining the art workshop that offers prisoners relief from the vacuum that is prison life is constantly growing, said Anselmini, with 14 prisoners currently painting or silversmithing.

“To me they are all artists, even if they have never painted before. When I saw these works for the first time I was so surprised; I felt here are real artists using paint as a medium to express themselves.

Many times I wonder how they find the strength and the energy to go ahead with painting — to survive in prison like this. But painting does give them strength. I saw many times Myuran, his eyes are sparkling, his soul is alive. When he was talking about this exhibition he was really happy. The paintings are out there – they are free,” said Anselmini.

That notion of vicarious freedom was expressed in many of the works at Gaya seen in paintings of landscapes, images of the cosmos, of planes flying away from tropical skies.

“It’s like they have sent their souls one step ahead of their minds. They have found, in painting, the right vehicle to do this,” Anselmini went on.

Running alongside the art auction, was an exhibition of silver jewelry created by prisoners, again through the art workshop, but originally founded by another young man facing life in prison, Si Yi Chen.

The Bali Nine’s Chen had been intrigued by a fellow prisoner who spent his days making silver chains, according to Joanna Witt of Studio Perak in Ubud.

“One day, about nine months ago, I had this cryptic SMS asking if I took on private clients. It was a friend of Si Yi’s saying he wanted to set up a silver workshop in prison,” said Joanna of the beginnings of what has grown to be a valuable vocation for Si Yi Chen and other prisoners at Kerobokan.

With a modest budget from Chen’s parents in Australia, the workshop took just a fortnight to establish with free training and material’s support from Joanna and Studio Perak’s silversmith, Nyoman Alit.

Support also came from prison staff and its governor, Pak Siswanto, explains Witt.

Fundraising: More than US$10,000 was raised last Thursday during an auction to help fund an art and craft workshop within Kerobokan Prison in Bali. “The staff  has been very supportive [of the program]. I thought at the beginning it could be difficult to set up the silver workshop, but it was the opposite. The warden of the prison, Pak Siswanto, is very progressive and really supports relationships between prisoners and the outside world so when they leave prison they have relationships and are  not isolated. He is very supportive of rehabilitation — he is really pioneering this here [in Bali],” said Witt.

The impact on prisoners’ lives has been enormous, she added. “In the beginning it was tough; everyone’s motivation was low. They are in jail so they were not feeling that great. Now we have a nice work team. There are a couple of Indonesians, two Malaysians and Si Yi Chen. They call going to the workshop “going to work”. They now feel like they are doing something…They have gone from being depressed to confident people doing something they believe in,” said Witt.

Si Yi Chen and Joanna are currently developing a marketing plan for the silver jewelry, currently sold through Studio Perak.

“All the income returns to the [prison] workshop. Hundred percent goes to the silversmiths who are reinvesting that into materials and tools. They are building their silver stocks and are paying off a silver rolling mill, they really needed that tool and their works are of a very good quality,” said Witt, during the Jail In A(u)ction exhibition that she, along with Michaela, prison based artists and art teachers hope will continue to fund an open door through arts into the future.

— Photos by JP/J.B.Djwan