ENVISIONING FREEDOM: ART AND INCARCERATION
Drawing of a prison cell by an inmate, created for the first “In & Out” Drawing Competition, 2024 (detail)
What is the relationship between art and incarceration? What role does culture play within a closed institution? What impact does it have? Is the cultural offer in prisons adequate? Do men and women have equal access to culture behind bars?
La Casa Encendida, Museo Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo and the association teta & teta present Envisioning Freedom: Art and Incarceration, a gathering dedicated to reflecting on the role of literature and art in prisons. Over the course of two days and in two different venues, the event invites participants to consider the importance of culture in prisons—closed, isolated and often forgotten institutions, especially where women are concerned.
On 24 June, La Casa Encendida will host a day dedicated A las Olvidadas (To the Forgotten Women), an initiative led by the association teta & teta that collects books donated and dedicated by members of the public, in an attempt to raise awareness of the situation of women in prison and reflect on female incarceration through literature. The full programme is available here.
The 25 June programme at Museo CA2M will revolve around COSMORAMA, an innovative initiative launched by the museum in 2024 in collaboration with the NGO Solidarios para el Desarrollo. Through Cosmorama, Museo CA2M has organised a range of activities—drawing competitions, training courses, workshops and talks—that explore new forms of participation and connection, turning prisons into spaces for experimenting and producing shared knowledge through collective practice and experience.
Over the past year, and with the support of Fundación Sabadell, a range of educational initiatives have been developed at Madrid V Prison (Soto del Real), which even houses an exhibition space bearing the programme’s name where works and projects created by inmates are displayed, challenging conventional ideas about the limits of art and its audiences.
The COSMORAMA Forum at Museo CA2M aims to serve as a space for sharing and reflecting on the experiences generated in the course of the Cosmorama programme, and also as an opportunity to collectively consider the role of art and culture as agents of change within prison institutions: what has already been achieved, the possibilities they offer and the challenges that remain.
PROGRAMME:
10.30: Opening presentation of the COSMORAMA Forum
11.00: Opening talk by Pastora Filigrana
12.30: Experiences panel: Clemente Bernad, Antonio Ballester Moreno and Fátima Moreno
Break
16.00: Conversation between inmates from Madrid V Prison (Soto del Real), Álvaro Crespo and Tania Pardo
17.00: Experiences panel: Álvaro Perdices, Marina Roca and Taxio Ardanaz
18.00: Experiences panel: Elena Rosauro Ruiz, Amelia Repetto and Lidia Amalia Mateo
19.00: Collection of letters for people deprived of their liberty
Throughout the day, the artist Quique Palomo will create an illustrated chronicle of the event.
Organised in conjunction with:
In collaboration with: With the support of:
