“(…) He was cold and didn’t ask for a light,
He was terribly thirsty and didn't ask for water:
He asked for books, that is, horizons,
In other words, stairs to climb to the summit
of the spirit and of the heart (…)
(Federico Garcia Lorca. “Half a Loaf of Bread and a Book”. 1931)
Wall before the intervention
The project stems from building bridges between incarcerated youth through literature.
In January 2025, a process of building links began through the exchange of letters between young people deprived of liberty at the Madrid V Penitentiary Center, in Soto del Real (Spain) and young people in the same situation at the Penal Establishment Unit 48 of San Martín, in Buenos Aires (Argentina).
The correspondence was anonymous, both the sender and the receiver, with the idea of creating free texts, without any bias.
words that would generate images and windows to look beyond the walls.
Based on reading all those epistolary texts and discussing them with the inmates, we tried to create a piece that synthesized the emotions and desires reflected by the young people deprived of their freedom.
HORIZON speaks of physical freedom, but also of mental freedom, the drive to move forward, and the future.
Freedom begins to be built from within, because the body can be free, but if the mind is not, we remain prisoners.
Meeting with the inmates of module 6 of the Madrid V Penitentiary Center
+ INFO
+ Intervention of approximately 175m2
+ Plastic paint on wall
+ Project driven by EMILIA LABORATORY – Read Iberoamerica Read
+ In collaboration with La Carcova Public Library, Soto del Real Municipal Library, Madrid V Penitentiary Center, Ágora Cultural Center Unit 9, La Plata Cultural Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, Unit 43, Gonzalez Catán.
We want to thank Inés Miret and Dolores Prades for being an unstoppable force, Waldemar Cubilla for being a great source of inspiration and the backbone of the project, Juan Soriano and Maria José Floriano for leading the writing workshops, Ana Simón, Rubén, Irene and the entire team of social workers and psychologists at the Madrid V Penitentiary Center; the world needs many people like you.
+ Thanks to the young inmates between January and June 2025 in Module 6 of the Madrid V Penitentiary Center. May life bring you luck and a speedy freedom
+ Implementation team: Javier Ballesteros, Jorge Muñoz, Camila Dorado, Irene Álvarez, Marcos García
+ Support from the studio: Jaime Pérez
+ Photos by David Fernández Graña and Amaia Magure (Banuka Studio)
+ Video: “Tearing down walls, building bridges”, directed by David Fernández Graña (Banuka Studio)
Where
Share
