Art gives prisoners new lease on life

KNYSNA NEWS - Six months ago a group of prisoners at the Knysna Correctional Services (prison) could not draw a straight line.

Now, thanks to the generosity and huge heart of Pieter Kruger, an established cartoonist and illustrator, these same men not only draw with skill but have some light in their long prison week.

Every Thursday since September last year, Pieter Kruger of Sparklife Studios takes drawing material and books on how to draw, and spends two hours with the prisoners teaching them the art of drawing.

Three Tanzanian men, who are not eligible for parole, a man from the Karoo and a Knysna prisoner make up the group of budding artists.

The group started with eight, some prisoners were released, and there is now a five-man group who cannot wait for their lessons each week.

Michael, who has been in prison for five years, sums it up: "Before I went to jail I loved wildlife and nature, fishing and the beach. It has been hard to not see past my cell and the walls of a brick courtyard where we exercise. After all this time with not a tree in sight, learning to draw and sharing this with my fellow artists has been the highlight of my time here," says Michael. While in jail, he has also taught prisoners to read and write and he is the art mentor for the group.

Although prisoners do have outdoor and exercise time during which period they can play soccer, table tennis, volleyball or just walk and feel the sunlight, for the rest of the time they are in their cells.

Rashidi from Tanzania says: "I was never good at expressing my feelings all my life, but now through this art have found expression." His drawings now all have a signature salamander carefully drawn on each of them.

Heinrich from a farm in the Karoo has learnt to write calligraphy with the generous donation of calligraphy pens and stencils from Kruger. The poignant poems he now composes in beautiful calligraphy are expressions of love, of his life philosophy and are shared as inspiration with the group.

Abu from Tanzania, like each person in the group, cannot wait to look at the art books Kruger brings and lends them each week. From Zapiro to other cartoon books like Peter Pan, books on how to start sketching, including classic works of art, are food for these prisoners' souls.

Introducing Calvin and Hobbes, Kruger holds the book up and explains how when Calvin's mother is not watching him Hobbes becomes merely an inanimate stuffed toy. "But look at what Hobbes does when he lives in Calvin's imagination," explains Kruger, showing examples. Asterix and Tin Tin comics are their favourites, says Kruger.

It is evident that like a dry sponge soaking up water, everything Kruger has to tell the men is soaked up with fascination and a desire to learn.

The day of the visit the prisoners are asked to draw a portrait. With big pieces of drawing paper in front of them and charcoal they eagerly set off for the task of the day.

Various books on how to draw a face, measuring the space between the forehead, nose and mouth into three sections are passed around and for an hour Kruger tends to each man's drawing practically helping them develop their skills while he also sketches on a whiteboard to show them the basics.

At the end of the exercise each man is proud of his work – and it is also clear that they have grown in leaps and bounds from the original stick men they drew.

One of the men tells me: "This hour each week breaks the drudgery of prison. We live cheek by jowl with our fellow inmates and just coming to this room is a treat. Learning to draw is escapism from the reality of prison, but also I never dreamed I could draw the way I do now."

The visit is not without treats. This particular day, chocolates are the order of the day and slowly savoured by the men, but as Kruger is leaving he gets a very polite request for doughnuts the following week – and told that new charcoal is required. At the end of the hour, very decent portraits are produced of the subject, each one showing real artistic progress and even prowess.

Since three of the men come from Tanzania, the subject they ask to focus on the following week is the market in Dar es Salaam, which Kruger undertakes to facilitate.

Unit manager of Knysna Correctional Services, Marcell Roode, says his theory is that being in prison can be a time of personal growth for every person, which is why he encourages what Kruger is doing.

How it all came about is that last year Sparklife Studios, who Kruger works for, gave a presentation to the prisoners on animation.

"I gave a small segment on drawing and cartoons and the prisoners asked me to come back and teach them."

After two months, Kruger says he realised how seriously the prisoners took this art class and he has not stopped since then, not missing one single Thursday except over Christmas when the prison was closed.

"It is the most rewarding thing I could do. The absolute enthusiasm and appreciation is great – and I am so proud of what they have accomplished," says Kruger, who hopes to leave a legacy with each and every one of them that will extend way beyond prison.

Some art materials have been sponsored by Deckle Edge who, Kruger says, have been most supportive and generous.

Who is Pieter Kruger?

He is a self-taught artist who has been drawing all his life, but never had formal lessons.
He is a lawyer who started off work in Gauteng as a prosecutor in the '80s and used to doodle on his notebooks from day one.
In 1986 he became the legal adviser to the foreign affairs international office and spent 12 years negotiating treaties for the UN.
He then went on to participate in all the negotiations on the International Criminal Court, which led to the final phase of his career.
He became the prosecutor for the Yugoslavian War Crime Tribunal and spent 12 years living in The Hague.
In 2011, Kruger took early retirement and came to live in Knysna, joining Sparklife Studios last year.

"I much prefer drawing and am having so much fun, I sometimes think I wasted my time being a lawyer," he will say.

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