Prison art work is a type of work that requires different rules and possibilities in terms of establishing contact, freedom of movement, opening certain topics and thinking carefully on its ethical dimensions, as well as keeping in mind the professional obligation to keep information, that artists might receive or the insights they gain while working in prison space, confidential. Before they could start any artwork in prison space, artists involved in the project need to go through proper education. Through certain forms of education, artists need to understand that working in a prison space requires not only a different approach to work than the one they are used to, but also a different approach to the people they will encounter while working in that space.

 

Projects to promote education in prisons, through the search for professional associates, the exchange of knowledge and the dissemination of good practice, have been implemented in the European area for a long time. The reason for the transnational implementation of the project is the fact that both the applicant and the project partners will use the specific knowledge and expertise that each participant brings to the project. This type of education is important because in this way the form of acting through the arts is more successfully embedded, on an equal footing with other skills (using art therapies and working with prisoners) in the penal/prison community. For artists, the effect we expect is to increase understanding of the needs of the community in which they perform the artistic interventions and to respond better to the needs of that community. Following the implementation of the project at the partnership level, the results of the project will be used to: educate artists interested in the subject of painting of prison premises, educate employees in prison systems on the effects of art on behavior and stay in prison, and educate students during their studies.

 

All materials produced by the project will be fully available to the public as follows: the books will be uploaded to the ISSU database, where the HDLU places links to catalogs, which are then made available to the public for reading and download. We plan to update the books over time, in line with the progress of projects in prison systems and the experiences we will gain over time, and we also intend to supplement the books so that they can be applied to hospital facilities. Brochures will also be developed for prison interventions and made available to prison systems to provide prisoners with insight and information on intervention projects and results.