Sep
15
Mosaic Liberation
Those of us in the craftivism world often use our skills to demonstrate solidarity in a public way with those that either don’t have a voice, or have an exceptionally marginalised one. Craft has such a mainstream appeal, it can open up issues to a wider audience than the normal activist audiences that some issues get ghettoed into.
One such issue is the racism of the prison industrial complex. If you live in the suburbs it can be easy to forget or not even know about the living hell that many, mostly indigenous men, are experiencing in prisons across the world.
The prison industry must love all the fear that politicians like to whip up about how unsafe our streets are. The more people demand longer sentences and the abolishment of parole, the higher the profits of the private prisons go. And the higher the cost to society. In the 2006/2007 financial year the cost of housing each inmate in New Zealand was $92,000. If the goal is to reduce crime, you can not tell me that is the most effective use of that much money.
In America aka the land of the Free, there is 1 adult in prison for every 100 adults. A country with 5% of the population has 25% of the world’s prison population. And of course the prisons are all privately run. So the more people in prison, the more corporate profits. And to make things even sweeter, most states don’t allow prisoners or even former prisoners to vote. And when you think about the fact that only about 1% of the prison population in the US are ‘white’ you can quickly see how this human rights tragedy is offensively racist beyond belief.
Which leads me to the point of this post which is to celebrate the new work of The Baroness.
A spectacular new mosaic mural has been unveiled on the outside wall of the Treatment Rooms in the west London suburb of Chiswick to raise awareness of African-American men confined in the notorious Angola prison, Louisiana.
The artwork, which took four months to create with help from a dedicated group of activist artists, decorates The Treatment Rooms, home of street artist Carrie Richards, aka The Baroness, and her partner Mr. Spunky. The mosaic is inlaid with 3D ceramic pieces and tiles that The Baroness has printed on herself. Having studied ceramics for the past 6 years, she is now about to transfer any image onto tile to add incredible detail and complexity to her work.
The mosaic depicts the so-called Angola 3 – Herman Wallace, Albert Woodfox and Robert King – men wrongfully convicted of murder at Angola prison in the 1970s and who subsequently spent decades in solitary confinement. Though Woodfox’s conviction has been overturned, and Wallace’s recommended for such, both men remain behind bars.
The extensive work is also dedicated to Kenny ‘Zulu’ Whitmore, who has similarly spent 33 years in solitary confinement at Angola, where the majority of inmates are black and will die inside its walls.
The Baroness is personal friends with all of these political prisoners and has recently become spokesperson for the London Chapter to support the Angola 3. This mural follows on from the Luis Ramirez Wall – which was a mosaic mural in memory of her first prisoner penpal Luis who was executed by the State of Texas. She continues make mosaics infused with social and political commentary, and she’s The Treatment Rooms as the UK’s only ceramic adorned house of resistance.
The only freed member of the Angola 3, Robert King –who spent 29 years in solitary confinement and was released in 2001 after his murder conviction was overturned – attended the unveiling on June 21. One of the purposes of his stay in London was to launch the Free Zulu campaign. He spoke to a crowd of 150 artists and activists from the UK, Europe and North America who have rallied around the causes of the Angola 3 and Zulu.
Robert King spoke to Zulu after the unveiling and Zulu said he now had hope in his heart. He has since seen pictures of the unveiling and is overjoyed by the support reaching him from the UK.
Isn’t that the most awesome thing you’ve ever seen? I for one, am inspired.
Because this piece is not only beautifully designed and executed, but it deals with something important. With all the effort the creative community puts into making stuff, you’d think we’d be able to spare a bit more time and creative energy for the things that really matter.
www.thetreatmentrooms.org
www.angola3london.org
www.freezulu.co.uk
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