Free art exhibition: Created by inmates

A new exhibition opened earlier this week at MK gallery, to showcase a selection of artwork from prisoners for the next month.

The theme of the exhibition is 'Transformation'; showing the transformation in the physical sense in terms of how the material has become an art piece, but also in the sense of how getting creative has helped the prisoners improve their lives. The exhibition highlights the positive and important role that education plays in helping to shape and change lives for the better.

The artwork has been produced by Milton Keynes Offender Learning and skills students, from HMP Woodhill, HMP Springhill, HMP Hewell, HMP Sudbury, HMP Bullingdon, HMP Grendon, HMP Huntercombe and HMP Long Lartin.

The exhibition is free, and on the 17th and 24th April it will be manned by MK College Offender Learning staff who will be able to provide further information, detail and background to the work on display. The artwork has also been made into a book.

Come along to MK Gallery this month to have a look at the artwork and find out more.

Alan Turing Institue for Data Science opened

Plans have recently been announced for a new Alan Turing institute for data science, to be based at the British Library. The institute will form part of London's 'knowledge quarter' and will aim to make Britain a world leader in the area of big data research. The world-class institution will work alongside universities across the country, in order to focus on new ways of collecting, organising and analysing large sets of data.

The Alan Turing institute will receive £42 million in funding over 5 years, a stark contrast to the £100,00 Turing had to fight to get during the war in order to build his decoding machine. Part of the institute's role will be to use big data to help businesses enhance their products and manufacturing processes, target their marketing better and provide more efficient services.

A timely announcement following the recent release of the film depicting Alan Turing's life, 'The Imitation Game', where many will have seen the work he did and how unjustly he was treated in the following years because of his personal life. Being described as a 'fitting tribute' to Alan Turing, the father of modern computer science and a national hero, the institute will help ensure that Britain remains at the forefront of and leading the rest of the world in this important field.

The amount being dedicated to the institute seems very high, with £42 million seeming a lot to be spent on research when there is so much else needing money across the country. However, the centre for Economics and Business research estimates that the UK economy could be benefitted by £216 billion as a result of the big data marketplace and create 58,000 jobs by 2017. Taking that into account, £42 million doesn't sound like a bad investment, if it all goes to plan and the projected figures are correct!

As mentioned previously, don't forget there is a year-long exhibition dedicated to the new film 'The Imitation Game' currently at Bletchley Park, where the film was set, right on our doorstep here in Milton Keynes. 

The Imitation Game and Bletchley Park- Watch the official trailer here

The Imitation Game is released in cinemas today, and other than looking to be a great film with a great cast (Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode and Mark Strong for starters) it is also high in relevance to the Milton Keynes area. 

You'll probably be aware of the history surrounding Bletchley Park and the amazing decoding work which was done there during the Second World War, led by Alan Turing. Alan Turing and his team were given the task of cracking the German Enigma code, a nail-biting race against time and something which was deemed impossible. The genius work of Alan Turing helped dramatically shorten the war, and consequently saved thousands of lives. 

Bletchley Park opened a special exhibition on Monday on the making of the film and the story of Alan Turing. Having had some of the film filmed on location at Bletchley park, it is a great exhibition with not only props and costumes worn by the cast to see, but also the real locations where the film was shot.

The film is expected to draw many visitors to Bletchley Park, and the exhibition is open for a year in order to give as many visitors and fans as possible the chance to see it for themselves. The Imitation Game is a great chance to have the story of Bletchley Park, and Alan Turning in particular, told, and with a great cast it looks to be a great watch.

For more information on Bletchley Park, visit the website by clicking here.

You can watch the trailer for the movie below. For film times visit the Cineworld or Odeon website for Milton Keynes.