Koestler Arts: No Comment
An exhibition exploring and showcasing the artistic range and talent of people in criminal justice settings, curated by Jeremy Deller and John Costi.
The Koestler Awards is an annual programme encouraging people from the UK’s criminal justice system to change their lives through the arts.
Jeremy Deller and John Costi have selected artwork from over 7500 entries for this free exhibition of work made by people in the criminal justice system.
Deller and Costi have long associations with Koestler Arts and hope to ‘let the art speak for itself’, showing the range of topics and interests of artists within these settings. No Comment features writing, music and design in a variety of themes; humour, honesty, sadness, political commentary and more.
True to their collaborative approach to making art, Deller and Costi also invited six other creatives with different roles in the art world to help select work, bringing in multiple viewpoints and ideas. Abbas Zahedi, Andrea Emelife, Jonny Banger (Sports Banger collective), Larry Achiampong, Dr Nicholas Cullinan OBE and Zakia Sewell spent time at the Koestler Arts Centre this summer making their selections.
Need to know
Free exhibition tours of No Comment are available with guides, some of whom have personal experience of the criminal justice system and can speak about the important role creativity plays in these settings.
Tours take place at the following times:
Wed: 2pm & 6pm
Fri: 6pm
Sat & Sun: 3pm & 4pm
Times & tickets
Dates, times and prices
Dates & times
Mon: 10am – 5.30pm
Tue & Wed: 10am – 8pm
Thu: 10am – 5pm
Fri – Sun: 10am – 8pm
The exhibition is closed on Wed 13 and Mon 18 Nov.
The exhibition is open until 8pm on Thu 12 Dec.
Standard entry
Free – no ticket required
Make a donation
Help us open up the arts to everyone by making a one-off or a recurring donation.
For your visit
This event is held at the Royal Festival Hall Southbank Centre
The Royal Festival Hall is open daily.
Monday & Tuesday, 10am – 6pm*
Wednesday – Sunday, 10am – 11pm
*If we’re hosting a performance, the building will stay open until the event ends.
Plan your visit
The Royal Festival Hall is home to our largest auditorium as well as The Clore Ballroom, National Poetry Library, Members’ Lounge, Festival Bar & Kitchen, Ballroom Cafe and Skylon restaurant.
Getting here
Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.
The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues. More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.
We’re cash-free
Please note that we’re unable to accept cash payments across our venues.
Access
We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.
All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access.
All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.
Food & drink
On Level 2 of our Royal Festival Hall you can grab a slice of life by the Thames with drinks and freshly made pizza at our Festival Bar & Kitchen which opens out onto our Riverside Terrace. You can grab a coffee and a slice of freshly made cake from our Ballroom Cafe. Or alternatively enjoy destination dining in the restaurant at Skylon.
From coffee to cocktails, filling favourites to fine dining, plus some of London’s best street food – it’s all here at the Southbank Centre.