The Cultural Observatory of the Universitat de València organised the activity ‘Cultura a la presó’ (Valencian for Culture in prison), which took place on 22nd September in the Magna Room of La Nau Cultural Centre. The seminar featured different experts who have led various artistic projects in prisons in different parts of Spain.
Can culture shape the prison environment? This was the big question that the first seminar of the 2022-23 academic year organised by the Cultural Observatory of the Universitat de València tried to answer. Four experts analysed the role that culture can play among prisoners, as it has been proven that culture, and art in particular, stimulates the development of creativity, contributes to the reinforcement of self-esteem and has a therapeutic function.
However, the benefits that culture can have for prisoners have complex challenges that are difficult to address, such as the role of prison workers in these activities or the true role of art in rehabilitating people.
‘Cultura a la presó’ featured Elena Cánovas, founder and director of the YESES Theatre Company; María Rufilanchas, creator of A las Olvidadas and founder of ‘teta&teta’; and Cristina Sampere, director of the Setba Foundation. The seminar was moderated by the journalist Pilar Almenar (director of the Impresas Project) and was hosted by the Vice-Principal for Culture and Society of the UV, Ester Alba.
This is the first seminar of the new academic year organised by the Cultural Observatory of the Universitat de València, but there are other interesting seminars planned for the last four months of the year. On 18th October, “Magia: del mito a la realidad” (Spanish for Magic: from myth to virtual reality), with the intervention of Ramón Mayrata and on 30th November “La cultura en transició” (Valencian for Culture in Transition) with the expert Guilia Quaggio. Finally, on 14th December, the seminar “Centelles: image, memory and archive” with Teresa Ferré will close the four-month period.
