Art as a vehicle for freedom. In Milan, two works by Enrico Baj are exhibited in prison

Two works by Enrico Baj arrive at the Opera Detention Home thanks to the ALMA - Arte Libera Musei Aperti initiative. The objective of theCorte Sconta Cultural Association’s project, carried out with the contribution of Fondazione di Comunità Milano, is in fact to make works of art accessible, after the limits imposed by the pandemic and other constraints, but also to bring people excluded from public events for health, physical-psychological or criminal reasons closer to artistic interest by making them participants in art as a way to Freedom. The initiative aims on the one hand to revalue places forced to the margins of social life and on the other hand to bring back to public life important and significant works, otherwise reserved for the few or forgotten in storage. Reducing inequality, gender equality, accessibility and social sustainability: these are the key words behind the project.

The next stages will be RSA Golgi Redaelli, Associazione Olinda at the former Paolo Pini psychiatric hospital, which will see the exhibition and participatory sharing of other works by famous artists, works of art from private collections, all expressions of the concept of freedom. At the end of each event, there will be an in-person or digital talk animated by personalities from art, culture and social initiative. Each work will be digitized and monitored using the most advanced techniques available today. The project enjoys the patronage of ICAMT International Committee for Architecture and Museum Techniques -ICOM International Council of Museums. The initiative will conclude in the fall with the reunion of all the works exhibited at the Fabbrica del Vapore at Corte Sconta in order to gather the results of the project.

The Opera Prison stage features the art of Enrico Baj with works available for viewing by the entire prison population as well as guests.

“We are at the second stage of ALMA. We decided to bring two paintings by Enrico Baj that will be usable throughout the next month by both the prison population and families. In fact, one painting will be housed in the Gallery of Opportunities, and the other painting will be in the interview room, which is where families stay while waiting for interviews,” said Andrea Vento, spokesperson for the Alma project and president of the Corte Sconta Cultural Association. “We thank the Community Foundation that allowed us to realize this, which I would call a dream, because indeed it is the stage dedicated to ’freedom and imagination,’ and I think this is a place where imagination should have space.”

In the words of Architect Maddalena D’Alfonso, creator of the ALMA project, the meaning of this event: "We can actually, with imagination, build worlds, tell stories, find pieces of ourselves, links to our civilization and our society. ALMA - Arte Libera Musei Aperti wants precisely to bring art to places where there are audiences that are distant from society and civilized life. Obviously through art we can raise awareness, even open channels of contact that are normally difficult. Thanks to the complicity of the Baj family, of Roberta Sciarina Baj who lent us the two works that are titled one Metamorphosis and the other Progne abandoned by Tereo converts to the cult of Visnu, we were able to bring the tale of a dream world, where distant people meet."

The whole ALMA initiative enjoys the patronage of ICAMT - International Comeetee of Architecture and Museum Technics, for which Dr. Danusa Castro spoke, “We believe that these are moments when art should be 100% usable. So that’s why ICAMT has decided to sponsor this project, which we hope will go on in other situations, at other times of the year, to bring art that has tremendous healing power to people and situations where this is absolutely precluded and impossible. We have experienced firsthand, with the pandemic, how difficult it is to be isolated and how heartening it is then to be able to deal with art, so we believe this is a very important project that gives the possibility to make art inclusive in the best way.”

Image: Enrico Baj, Progne abandoned by Tereo converts to the cult of Visnu

Art as a vehicle for freedom. In Milan, two works by Enrico Baj are exhibited in prison

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.