Saturday 26 October 2013

Ships and prisoners

An artist lady who does workshops in her Putney studio next to Octavia shop brought in a beautiful model of a ship yesterday. Sadly, she had no space to accommodate it any longer. It was hard for her to part with this treasured possession that had been with the family, travelling the world for thirty years. That's one it was made to order by the inmates of a Dubai prison. She and her family lived in this city for several years and her children would accompany her on her visits to the institution to see to the work. The ship turned out to be much bigger than they had had in mind, but they still loved it. Hence, they would always take it to whichever corner of the globe her husband's job would make them land for the next several years. Now, in London, their living space has shrunk, as it does for most of us in this city, and they had to part with this special keepsake.
During our brief chat we reflected upon the conditions in prisons in different countries and at different times in history...  If you come to read my blog, you may have seen the pictures I took at the exhibition of works by prisoners and mental health patients at the Royal Festival Hall in Southbank. I saw it earlier this month. Apparently, what attracted me was a really big model of a ship, the very first work you see when you go past the entrance.

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Tonight I'm going to see 'Middlemarch - Dorothea's Story' at The Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond. I've just looked up some info about the very special man in the life of George Elliot. 1/3 of her novel  I'll be watching on stage.:-)
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