In the period 15 – 19 March 2011 held in the Ploiesti prison an workshop held by the project coordinator Mr. Brian Maguire with a theme" Art in prison”. In this activity attended 10 prisoners with different age who have committed various crimes and who have participated in such activities or who are just trying to discover artistic talent.
The activity started with a short presentation of Mr Brian Maguire and his career as a teacher and artist. Since not all the detainees speak English one prisoner was considered as an interlocutor who speaks English fluently and who knows best feelings and their lives behind bars. After presenting some stories from the lives of prisoners they began working activity, consisted in five teams of two prisoners to make each an portrait.
The process was that at the beginning each pair painted each other.Mr. Brian Maguire painted the prisoner acting as the interlocutor. When completed each painting was hung on the wall and the teacher began a kind of game with the 10 participants which consisted of imagining the 11 paintings of heads were a bus queue from which we all tried to borrow money for a fare late at night. This is very comical but also had the serious intent of equalizing the participants work as psychological characteristics were attributed to each painting. At its conclusion it was clearly understood by experience that the paintings all of them were capable of communicating.
The next period was spent with each participant painting a person they loved or hated, an object of personal importance and the most happy place and the most unhappy place. All participated fully in this serious self expression. Images of loved ones often wives and mothers were made, the mobile phone (earlier a item of increasing interest to the head officer on the landing) trucks and houses, a war scene from Africa (the man served with the French Foreign legion).
The workshop continued with other themes proposed by the project coordinator, themes which consisted in to make an painting which include issues relating to the feelings of detainees. These works were quite diverse in terms of work content, the colors used in their implementation and the result was great because everyone has tried to express what they think at that time. The works have been analyzed and Brian tries to explain for each the good side and the bad side of those presented.
This Workshop was a great success for the detainees because they were able to work under the guidance of a true master not only in art but also in pedagogy. I say this because Brian has managed to capture their attention and time spent together was almost too short for both inmates and for us to develop our activities with them, because I had a lot to learn. Why was a lesson for us? Because each are trying to launch artists which reproduce certain works or objects, but not to enter into their soul through art.
In my opinion our guest was delighted with the living conditions of prisoners they were here and he had the opportunity to talk with people who execute glass painting, sculpture and graphics works andgive advice regarding their work. Later we made a visit to an open prison of the 40 men who served their sentences while under 3 prison officers. Mr. Brian Maguire commented on the most beautiful painting work, in the academic tradition, by one prisoner who was fully facilitated by the authorities in pursuing his art.
The 10 inmates have participated together with Brian to visit an exhibition of works of art. This exhibition was organized by our prison together with other prisons that have a different prison regime (closed prison regime, penitenciar for Minor and young, penitenciar for women). In this exhibition have been exhibited works of three of the inmates who participated at this workshop. Like a true artist and art critic Brian requested that the inmates express their feelings within their work in order to have a career in art. The exhibition which showcased in the city museum the art and craft work of prisoners.
Because any activity must be evaluated our psychologist has made a survey ( The Rosenberg test) which shows self-esteem of the prisoners at the beginning and end of the workshop. The result was next: 8 inmates increased self-esteem and at the two prisoners that remained the same.
In the local newspaper appeared an article with the following content: „Prison Ploiesti decided to provide at 10 inmates, in a semi-open regim, an slightly activity different from the daily routine. In partnership with Brian Maguire, coordinator of the project "Grundving" (financed by the European Commission entitled "A Sense of Being - Bulinding Self Esteem), Psychosocial support service was developed the activity " therapy by painting". Initiative may seem minor, but to people found behind bars was an unforgettable experience. Master of the brush was Ciprian Balint, arrested for forgery (he signed orders without coverage). Along with this, and other prisoners were allowed to escape into the world of imagination and forget, for a few hours, why they were imprisoned or issues unresolved in the family. Grundving project is developed in partnership with Ireland, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Norway, and includes the exchange of experience and psychosocial education segment.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This communication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
