Art in prisons: talking restorative justice through artistic and narrative projects
Coordinators: Gema Varona (Senior researcher at the Basque Institute of Criminology Basque Institute of Criminology (UPV/EHU), Roberto Moreno (Dirección de Justicia del Gobierno Vasco), Lourdes Fernández Manzano (Abogada y Mediadora)
190401_final_programme.pdfDescription of the meeting
El punto de partida es considerar los proyectos artísticos, en o sobre prisión, en relación con la justicia restaurativa en el sentido de movilizar “afectos restaurativos”. En el ámbito de las humanidades y de las ciencias sociales actuales, incluyendo los estudios culturales, se debate el concepto de “afecto” (Leys 2011). Según Eric Shouse (2005): ‘la importancia del afecto descansa sobre el hecho de que, en muchos casos, el mensaje que se recibe conscientemente puede tener menos importancia para el receptor que sus resonancias afectivas no conscientes” y precisamente el poder de algunos medios (también artísticos) puede residir “en su habilidad para crear resonancias afectivas independientes del contenido o del significado”.
Cuestionando el uso de la violencia, algunas atmósferas artísticas y narrativas podrían construir puentes entre diferentes agentes y generaciones. En este sentido, se puede reconceptualizar el término ‘drauma’ de Joyce, como sueño y trauma (Harty, 2015). Soñar traumas pasados puede dar la oportunidad de celebrar vidas únicas rotas por la violencia de muy diversos tipos. Como el ángel de la historia, un concepto abierto utilizado por Walter Benjamin (Werckmeister, 1996), el pasado, el presente y el futuro pueden relacionarse a través del arte y las narrativas como formas de revertir parte de un pasado inamovible o buscar sentido en él de formas emancipadoras.
Los proyectos restaurativos a través del arte en prisión se conciben, en ocasiones, como arte colaborativo entre víctimas, internos y/o comunidades, enfatizando los elementos de participación y diálogo libres para crear efectos reparadores (Varona 2018). Por su parte, Clamp (2016, p. 16) explica las tres características que la justicia restaurativa debería incluir en un contexto de violaciones graves de derechos humanos:
- Debe incluir a todas las personas afectadas, desde una conceptualización de identidades multidimensionales y abiertas.
- Debe adaptarse y ser culturalmente relevante en cada contexto concreto.
- Debe mirar al futuro, de manera sostenible, para ser transformadora.
En todo caso, sobre este tema, necesariamente abstracto y difuso, persisten muchos aspectos complejos sobre los que será posible conversar durante el workshop, contextualizando diferentes proyectos y casos en diferentes países, y encontrando puntos comunes. ¿En qué sentido podemos hablar de arte y narración en y sobre la prisión? ¿Se movilizan afectos en esos proyectos artísticos o narrativos? ¿Qué tipo de afectos? ¿Pueden relacionarse con la “energía emocional” a la que se refiere Rossner (2013)? ¿Qué afectos, si alguno, pueden relacionarse con la justicia restaurativa en un sentido amplio? ¿Son esos afectos, como concepto más allá de los sentimientos y emociones, independientes de la ideología, la razón o las creencias porque tienen lugar a un nivel inconsciente (Leys, 2011)? ¿Cuál es el impacto de esos proyectos a un nivel individual, comunitario y social? ¿Existen riesgos de abusos politicos o ideológicos? ¿Cuáles pueden ser las potencialidades para que el arte en prisión pueda tener un efecto político que permita estrategias que eviten “una representación reduccionista, una emoción fácil”, favoreciendo el reconocimiento de aspectos críticos? (Bal, 2016, p. 29-30).
Se invita a los participantes a hacer uso de formatos artísticos o creativos en sus propias presentaciones, más allá del formato clásico académico. Esto se tendrá en cuenta también en una futura publicación común sobre el workshop.
The point of departure is considering artistic projects in or about prisons related to restorative justice as mobilizing 'restorative' affects. Many scholars today in the humanities and social sciences, including cultural studies, are fascinated by the idea of affect (Leys 2011). According to Eric Shouse (2005): ‘the importance of affect rests upon the fact that in many cases the message consciously received may be of less import to the receiver of that message than his or her nonconscious affective resonances with the source of the message’ and that the power of some forms of media might lie ‘in their ability to create affective resonances independent of content or meaning’.
Without legitimizing violence, some artistic and narrative atmospheres might build bridges among different stakeholders and generations. In this sense, it is possible to reconceptualize the term ‘drauma’ by Joyce, as dream and trauma (Harty, 2015). Dreaming prepossessing traumas can be thought as celebrating unique lives that were broken because of violence. Like the angel of history, an open concept used by Walter Benjamin (Werckmeister, 1996), the past, present, and future might be related through art and narratives as ways of reversing part of the irreversible or making sense out of it in an emancipatory way.
Restorative justice projects through art in prisons are usually conceived as collaborative art between victims, offenders and/or communities with the elements of free participation and dialogue in creating reparation of victimization through art, where the community is involved (Varona 2018).
Clamp (2016, p. 16) comments on three characteristics that restorative justice should meet in a context of grave violations of human rights:
- It must include all affected persons, from a conceptualization of multi-dimensional and open identities.
- It must be adapted and be culturally relevant in each concrete context.
- It must look to the future in a sustainable manner to be transformative.
Still, around this abstract and diffuse topic, there are many complex issues to hold a conversation during the workshop by contextualizing different projects and cases in different countries and trying to find common themes: in what sense can we talk about art and narrative in and about prison? Are affects mobilized in those artistic projects? Can this be related to the ‘emotional energy’ explained by Rossner (2013)? What affects, if any, might be related to restorative justice in a broad sense? Are those affects, as different from feelings or emotions, independent from ideology, reasons or beliefs, taking place below the threshold of conscious awareness and meaning (Leys, 2011)? What is the impact of those projects at the individual, community and social levels? Is there any risk of political or ideological abuse? Which are the potentialities for art in or about prison ‘to have political effect is groping for strategies that avoid the drawbacks of reductive representation, facile emotion, and instant recognition of critical issues’ (Bal, 2016, p. 29-30).
Participants are invited to use artistic or creative formats for their presentations beyond the classical academic formalities, something that we will try to preserve in our future joint publication of the workshop.
Our experience in Oñati
The workshop Art in prisons: talking restorative justice through artistic and narrative projects has brought to the Oñati International Institute of the Sociology of Law, to the Basque Country, a great diversity of perspectives coming from different disciplines and practices in many countries. Participants came from Spain, Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, France, United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, Canada, United States and Venezuela. Artists, academicians, practitioners and policy makers shared their diverse insights on this fascinating topic.
The point of departure was the possibility of art as dialogical process about harm challenging its complex causes and consequences. We can conceive art as knowledge that, without the limitations of the scientific method, it can acknowledge ambiguities of the human condition without moralising, as well as the relevance of emotions embraced in the notion of ethical imagination. Restorative justice shares with that definition of art many characteristics stressing those of repairing victimisation taking into account, in an ethics of consideration, those harmed, those responsible and communities at large. Restorative justice allows considering the different expectations of justice in their many forms. Both, art and restorative justice can be transforming. As Georges Braque expressed “Art is a wound that turns to light”. This can be interpreted not only as creating beauty out of suffering, but mainly as art documenting and making suffering visible and, perhaps, intelligible.
We found more problems relating art and restorative justice to prison due to its dehumanising context. Historically many writers and other artists found in artistic expressions their way to scape and evade from that prison conditions. The challenge is to conceive art in prison (whatever form it adopts: music, sculpture, literature, painting, theatre, photography, etcetera) beyond therapy so that it can question social injustice and asymmetries of power. In any case, art as resistance or interpellation, without legitimising or banalising, should not be encapsulated as having a mission or function. Art will always have to do with personal and creative expression in a given society and that is what makes art intriguing and different beyond instrumentalisation.
The philosopher Nietzsche said that the artist is a dancer in chains. (Mental) chains can be broken and, even with chains, art can be liberating in our everyday lives, depending on the living art we chose.
Thank you to all participants and thank you to the Oñati IISL staff for this unique opportunity that it will continue in our future joint publication.
Gema Varona
Workshop Coordination Team
Avenida de la Universidad, 8
Apartado 28
20560 Oñati (Gipuzkoa) - Spain
T: +34 943 78... Ver teléfono
E: workshop@iisj.es
