SECRET GARDEN
April 20-May 15, 2011ACCESS Gallery
La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre
Bendigo, Victoria
Australia
In small, crowded Cell 15 of the Quezon Provincial Jail, using seeds shaken out from their leftover meals, and digging with plastic utensils to soften the earthen floor, inmates have managed to coax plants to life. A vegetable garden has flourished despite restrictions from prison authorities, despite the absence of suitable tools.
Mark Salvatus, who counts holding art classes for prisoners at the Manila City Gaol among his advocacies, got wind of this story. When commissioned to do a piece for Sungdu-an 5 at the National Museum in October 2009, Mark took inspiration from this prison tale.
From a story of patience and creativity, Mark Salvatus embarked on his own process of patience and creativity. Ultimately, he leaves us with an interactive installation that delivers an experience as memorable as the narrative from whence it came. -Trickie Lopa
Mark’s Secret Garden is viewed in a small cupboard in the gallery wall at the VAC. Here you will see flowers, miniature palm and grass crafted by prisoners from discarded plastic bottles. Magnified on a wall next to the garden, Mark reproduces a tattoo of a snarling tiger, the symbol a prison gang used to mark the area as its territory.
As part of the exhibition at the Visual Arts Centre, Mark is exhibiting a new work entitled “Intimation” (2011) which is about a found object that he stumbled upon while having an quick guided tour inside the decommissioned Bendigo prison. He found the knife cupboard, made out of steel and secured with a padlock, in the prison’s kitchen. This object can talk about different stories that we can construct because of its strong image and its history. Victoria’s oldest prison, the Bendigo Gaol was shut down in 2006 after 145 years. Bendigo Senior Secondary College will use part of the historic building as classrooms in the future.
Mark acknowledges the following individuals and institutions for their generous assistance in realizing this exhibition:
Bill and Debra Higgs, Bendigo Senior Secondary College
Paul Northam, Managing Curator, La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre
Ramon E. S. Lerma, Director and Chief Curatror, Ateneo Art Gallery, Ateneo de Manila University
Yael Buencamino, Managing Curator, Ateneo Art Gallery, Ateneo de Manila University
Ian Carlo Jaucian, Exhibitions Coordinator, Ateneo Art Gallery, Ateneo de Manila University
Patrick D. Flores, Curator, Vargas Museum, University of the Philippines
Trickie Lopa, Art writer and blogger
supported by
HM Prison Bendigo was a medium security prison facility located in Bendigo, Victoria, Victoria, Australia. The prison provided accommodation for prisoners assessed as suitable for treatment in the area of substance abuse and addictive/compulsive behaviours. The prison was opened in 1863 after building began in the 1850s. A major refurbishment which included sewering each cell was undertaken in 1993-94. Accommodation was mostly in single cells, with a small number of shared cells.
The prison was officially closed on 5 January 2006 by Corrections Minister Tim Holding.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HM_Prison_Bendigo
