Moroccan prisoners with the level of artists ... plastic arts renew their links with society

Sana Al-Quwaiti-Rabat

The plastic art helped the Moroccan prisoner Mohamed - a pseudonym for a prisoner condemned to death - to adhere to life and reconcile himself within the high walls of the prison. This fiftieth, who entered Quneitra prison 21 years ago, did not save him from despair and waiting other than his immersion in the art world.

Muhammad lived - for the first time in more than two decades - moments of freedom while participating in a unique plastic exhibition organized by the General Delegate of Prisons with the National Council for Human Rights on the occasion of the National Day of the Prison, where he interacted with the public directly, explaining to them the techniques he adopts in drawing and topics that draws inspiration Including ideas transmitted in his artistic creativity.

Beside his paintings, Mohamed displays artworks of about thirty prisoners from different prisons, in an open exhibition for the Museum of the Bank of Morocco in Rabat, which will continue until next March, under the slogan "Creations beyond the walls or when art is freed."

The exhibition aims - according to the organizers - to humanize the prison world known as "its closure", to create a bridge for communication between prisoners and the outside world, and to liberate works of art generated within the prison walls.

A window towards freedom
Muhammad did not expect to become a professional painter, his relationship to this art was limited and innate. , And lives in his own world.

This artist is inspired by most of the subjects of his paintings from nature and people, for they are his window towards freedom. He says, "I come from a mountainous area, so when I miss my roots and miss my previous life, I draw scenes from nature and scenes from my memory."

Thanks to his good behavior, Muhammad left death after two decades in which he spent, and the sentence was transferred to the specified prison following a royal pardon, leaving him with only two years to embrace freedom, and he waits for those days with patience and optimism, and looks at his paintings with gratitude and says "I was able through drawing and music to overcome all tragedies And tribulations, I used to spend a long time drawing without feeling about its passing, the years passed and the day of my freedom approached, I am happy that I overcame despair and emptiness. "

Freeing the soul
As for Tariq - a pseudonym for a prisoner who is sentenced to eight years - the shock of detention and the pain of the prison are still clear, and despite the passage of six years of his sentence, he cannot adapt to his condition, especially after his son who left him in his eighth month.

Referring to his recent painting and explaining her story to Al-Jazeera Net, "I dreamed of a sad child sitting on the doorstep of the house, hiding his head between his feet. He is my son who I haven't seen and has not seen since he was eight months old, his imagination is angry with me, waiting for me and missing me."

Tariq blows in his paintings his anger and resentment, and expresses his sadness and bitterness in the days of imprisonment, and whenever those negative feelings and thoughts raided him, he emptied them in his paintings to free his soul and purify it before he gained his freedom and embraced his son.

For Adil - a pseudonym for a prisoner who spent nine years in prison - the drawing is travel in worlds far from cold cells.

Adel learned to draw in private workshops inside the prison, in addition to playing guitar and other crafts, and he prefers the Impressionist school to draw his paintings, so he starts from scenes from nature and draws them abstractly and reflects their aesthetic in his paintings.

Adel, as he says, has turned to another person since he touched the feather and the colors.

The first gallery
The paintings of Muhammad, Tariq and Adil were exhibited in various group exhibitions, but this is the first time that they have attended one of them, interacting directly with the audience and sharing with them their passion for art.

Kawthar Al-Raghai, head of the Partnership for the Formation and Operation of Prisoners at the General Commission for Prison Management and Reintegration, says the exhibition “Beyond the Walls” is an opportunity to introduce the artistic creativity of prisoners and change the stereotype of the prison world.

In an interview with Al-Jazeera Net, she explains that art helps prisoners overcome the ordeal of detention, so that they can express their feelings and blow their energies into creative works, which will help them - after their release - to integrate smoothly into society.

Kawthar notes that all the paintings on display reflect the conflicting feelings of prisoners and their evolution over time. Some of those who have gone beyond the shock of detention draw nature and choose calm colors, and in other panels show the effects of the detention shock going on.

Fine art - according to the official - is one of the artistic methods for integrating prisoners into society, and notes that the Prison Commission organizes annually a competition in plastic art, which serves as an opportunity in which prisoners from different prisons get to know each other, are able to win prizes, and communicate with professional artists who illuminate Them their way.

Renewing links
Muhammad, Tariq, Adil and their colleagues try the prison ordeal through their creations that were born behind the walls, to renew their connections to society, to transform deprivation, isolation, resentment and anger into energy that creates beauty, and to restore confidence in themselves and in others.

It seems that art for these artist prisoners is more than a luxury and a way to express their emotions, but rather a way to recover from the scars left by the prison experience, and a special method to flush out obsessive thoughts and negative thoughts that bite their will and desire in life, and with each painting embody their hopes for the approaching day when the doors will open Iron, demolish high walls and embrace the life they left behind, holding on to a second chance to live in society.