Some inmates from the Aguada Jail have found art as a way to communicate with the world
The feelings in the paintings overpower you; the bold brushstrokes and colours convey confidence and cannot be ignored. These are noordinary paintings – the inmates of the Aguada jail have used brush and paintto connect with the world from which they are alienated.
The paintings were on display at Sunaparanta in Altinho andthe exhibition was curated by Margaret Mascarenhas and Swatee Nair,co-directors of the Blue Shores Art Project – entirely funded by the Vinod andSaryu Doshi Foundation – which is a four-year syllabus that focusses onpainting, creative writing and performance art. “This is a pilot project whichwe want to document for the purpose of employing it as a model, which we wouldlike to hand over to the prison authorities after completion of the 4-yearsyllabus,” says Mascarenhas.
The participants carried to class their person and emotionalbaggage. “Naturally, when we began the project a couple of years ago, theinmates whose lives are mostly about routine and survival, were not in aposition to expose their vulnerabilities to themselves, to us, or to eachother. But this is a process, and over a period of time they have becomecomfortable expressing themselves in the safe space that we provide, andtherein lies the power of their work,” says Mascarenhas.
When asked about an interesting incident/observation withregard to the inmates, Mascarenhas said, “When we first started over two yearsago, one of the selected participants, known as JD, watched suspiciously witheyes narrowed as we outlined our program and syllabus, and asked us, "Whatis your agenda?" For the first few months, he was the 'bad boy' of theclass, never overtly disrespectful, but a bit offhand and sometimes disruptive.Because writing necessitates more direct self-disclosure than painting, it wasinitially difficult to get him on board with journaling, a process we use thatinvolves automatic writing, also known as 'stream of consciousness' writing.Today JD is one of our most talented and gifted Konkani writers, particularlyadept at memoir and performance art scripting. He has written an evocativeperformance art piece on the loss of his village to a mining company that weintend to have enacted and filmed.”
The project paves the way for the prison environment to beconducive to reform which otherwise it hardly is. Classes take place on thefloor of the chapel and are conducted by three teachers twice a week – onThursdays and Saturdays – for two hours. “Because they come from diversecultural backgrounds, they learn perspective on a personal level: their fellowinmate[s] may have a different view or understanding of an issue. They learn torespect that point of view,” says Mascarenhas and continues, “Most of theparticipants are unschooled but they are able to express themselves quiteeloquently verbally. Those who cannot write say what they want to express andone of their fellow inmates who can write, notes it down for them.”
The participants will receive a Blue Shores certificate atthe end of each syllabus year. While the proceeds of last year’s exhibitionwere donated by the inmates to the Caritas Home for Street Children with HIV,this year the proceeds will go to the inmates themselves. “They have workedhard, improved greatly, and they deserve it,” concludes Mascarenhas.
