Prison (Art Behind Bars)

The concept is based on the field experience that artists derive from their informal meetings and conversations with prisoners during several sessions. These meetings are the conceptual canvas on which the artist creates their body of work. The communicational exchange between the one “deprived of freedom” and the other “deprived of restrictions”— each inhabitant of his own world “inside” and “outside”— practically develops at the border. A strong, creatively emotionally recharged impulse is born there. This penetration highlights the paradoxical dimensions of freedom. In dialogue with the prisoners, the artist—the free person—faces the limitations of his own “social prison” and seeks the boundaries of freedom beyond the specific topography of the prison. We believe that our encounters with prisoners open up the possibility for a conversation in our society about all marginalised groups. For both the artists and the prisoners, these encounters carry a powerful rebellious emotional element—a piece of forbidden freedom. Curated by Tsvetelina Anastasova The project is funded by the Socially engaged arts program (2023) of the National Culture Fund.