Community art by young inmates

The community art exhibition entitled "Jo també sóc del barri DE GIRA/ON TOUR" aims to show a series of art works created by young and underage inmates of young offenders' institutions. The exhibition will be on display until 18 March.

15/02/2017

The exhibition seeks to reveal the creative potential of all human beings, regardless of their personal conditions or technical abilities.

“Jo també sóc del barri DE GIRA / ON TOUR” is a community art project which studies the relation between art, society and young offenders' institutions. The project began to take shape thanks to the artistic visits made to the education centres at these types of institutions. The initiative began in 2014 by artist Alter Krapp and the UAB's Fundació Autònoma Solidària, in collaboration with the Department of Justice of the Government of Catalonia.

The project forms part of the Art Brut debate and vindicates every individual's potential for creativity, regardless of their personal conditions and technical capabilities. “Jo també sóc del barri DE GIRA / ON TOUR” aims to show visitors the works of young inmates and open a window to this world which is often unknown to the majority of people.

The expository format prepared by Fundació Setba shows the results of the creative painting lab conducted between 2014 and 2015 at the Can Llupià juvenile education centre, where over fifty inmates participated. The exhibition also presents some of the graphic works and collages made in 2016 at the juvenile education centres Oriol Badia and Els Til·lers. The exhibition reflects the creative process undergone by the young inmates, teachers and professionals of the centre, volunteers at the Fundació Autònoma Solidària and the artist Alter Krapp.

All of the exhibits form part of the “MAID IN PRISON”, a collection of open access art works aiming to give visibility to communities distanced from traditional art circuits, such as self-taught individuals, psychiatric hospital patients, prison inmates and young offenders. The collection will be available shortly at the Deposit of Digital Documents of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

Don't miss it:
From 1 to 18 March 2017, the exhibition will be open to the public Mondays to Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Fundació Setba (Carrer Consell de Cent 335, Barcelona).

Inauguration and closing session:
The inauguration took place on 2 March at noon and was attended by Carles Mundó (Catalan Minister for Justice), Pilar Heras (Director General of the Criminal Justice and Juvenile Justice System in Catalonia), Darío Olaortua (President of Fundació Setba), Cristina Sampere (Director of Fundació Setba), Mariola Foix (Manager of Fundació Setba), Carlos Sánchez (Vice Rector for Institutional Relations and Culture of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), Jordi Prat (Director of Fundació Autònoma Solidària), and Alter Krapp/Andrea Noferini (artist and lecturer at the UAB) and Roser Fernández (Coordinator of the academic team at the Can Llupià education centre).

On Thursday 16 March, the closing session will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Centre d’Estudis Jurídics i de Formació Especialitzada (Carrer Ausiàs Marc 40, Barcelona). The session will be entitled “La creació artística a les institucions penitenciàries i altres centres d’internament. Visibilitat, resultat i impactes” (Artistic Creation in Prisons and other Detention Centres. Visibility, Results and Effects). The full programme will be made available soon.