Open Minds

Open Minds

19 October – 24 November

Open Minds @ The Hunt Museum gave people of the West of Ireland a chance to see an exhibition that started in Rua Red in Tallaght. It was curated by Brian Maguire, the well-known Irish artist who has worked with every prison in the country over a number of decades and has been a staunch advocate for art education in prisons. The Irish Prison Service chose him because of his understanding of the issues around incarceration, and the huge amount of work he has done with people in custody.

The artwork selected by Maguire for the exhibition is anonymous. Those who view it won’t know anything about the crimes perpetrated by the person who created it, which is part of the point. The art is put on public display as a kind of evidence that those who go behind bars have not disappeared from society completely. Open Minds wanted to challenge people to “see beyond the person who has been convicted.”