Art

Library of Bones

Jenni was the Gavin Wallace Fellowship writer in residence at Summerhall from February 2019-February 2020. During the Fellowship she worked on a new book of poetry, The Bone Library, a new novel, Luckenbooth, wrote a series of texts for walls in the building, and engraved texts on to bones. She was taken on for the position as they believed she would contribute something beautiful, uplifting and thoughtful.

“I was looking for things that aren’t seen, or known about and someone mentioned the bones in the attic, another person said not to talk about that and a third added that they were ‘inferior,’ bones, leftover by the vets when they moved to their new premises. It was exactly what I was looking for, I spent hours lifting boxes of bones down to my study and then the following year — teaching myself how to engrave them, with poetry I had written in my residency, paint them and then fill the engraved areas with gold. Art meets science. A bridge appears between past and present. All things have purpose. There were many secrets in the bone library. Now there is poetry. Time moves on.”

Narrative - Koestler Arts

Narrative is an exhibition of artwork, writing and music from prisons, secure hospitals, secure children’s homes, and community justice services across Scotland, curated by Jenni. The display featured up to 180 works entered from Scotland into the 2017 Koestler Awards. The exhibition included paintings, sculpture, needlecraft, nail art, printmaking, woodcraft, audio, animation and writing.

“The chance to practise art should be available to everyone in the prison system, it can be a vital part of their rehabilitation.”

The exhibition was part of Freedom in Expression, a festival presented by Koestler Arts to celebrate the arts within criminal justice and secure settings.