Gurgaon prison inmates turn wall into an art gallery
GURGAON: A group of inmates have beautified the front wall of Bhondsi jail, the biggest prison in the state, with painting based on a variety of themes.
At the end of a three-month effort, eight inmates, have turned the 15-foot tall and 500foot long boundary wall of the prison into an art gallery in a project titled ‘art connect’.
Some of the inmates said the activity that started as a hobby helped them in expressing themselves.
“After my conviction, I was depressed...The image of a murderer was stuck in me but when I began to paint, my life changed and I lived my life through the paintings. After the art work on the wall was completed, I have decided to continue painting on canvas,” Manish, a murder convict, said. The team of the artists behind the new look included Aman, Manish, Ravi, Parveen, Anand, Hari, Subhash and Babulal. The eight inmates are presently serving life imprisonment. The project started with an art workshop but soon the entire prison became their canvas. The cost of the art work was `5 lakh. “In order to help the inmates, we did a need analysis with the inmates. After this, we identified that few of them were good hands in art and others had an interest in learning the art. We provided a platform to enhance their talent. We helped them through volunteer support, and by providing training, materials and expertise,” Monica Dhawan, director, India Vision Foundation, said.