About the project ColoUrs of Reality

Melinda Šefčić, PhD

The Colours of Reality is the fifth project implemented by the Croatian Association of Fine Artists in collaboration with the project author and manager, Melinda Šefčić, PhD, with the financial support of the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration of the Republic of Croatia.

The project implementation included the artistic aestheticization and revitalization of 10 interior and exterior spaces of the Prison in Bjelovar, the Prison in Karlovac, the Prison in Osijek and the Penitentiary in Lepoglava. Additionally, two art workshops were held in the Correctional Institution in Turopolje and the Prison in Karlovac.

With their creative participation and engagement, the artists involved in the project have improved living and working conditions in prisons and penitentiaries and contributed to rehabilitation, subtle education and communication. Monika Meglić and Valentina Supanz Marinić carried out artistic interventions in the Prison in Bjelovar and Ana Ratković Sobota and Jasmina Krajačić did so in the Prison in Karlovac. Artists Tea Jurišić and Goran Rakić painted the outer wall of the Prison in Osijek, while Nikolina Manojlović Vračar, Melinda Šefčić, Valentina Supanz Marinić, Damir Sobota and Mario Miličić carried out five artis- tic interventions in the Penitentiary in Lepoglava. As part of the project, two art workshops were also held under the guidance of Vida Meić, who held an art workshop in the Prison in Karlovac, and Krešimir Golubić, who held an art workshop with juvenile inmates in the Correctional Institution in Turopolje. The research component was implemented in collaboration between Anita Jandrić Nišević, PhD, from the Department of Criminology, Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation, University of Zagreb and Melinda Šefčić, PhD. The research work, presented in the catalogue, is a continuation of the works carried out so far, and the goal was to gain an insight into how inmates and prison staff in the aforementioned penal institutions perceive the prison exterior and interior before and after the implementation of the project activities, and ultimately to improve the conditions of serving a prison sentence in the Republic of Croatia. What motivates us to continue working on these and similar projects in the prison system is the result that shows that over 85% of inmates support the implementation of the project in other penal institutions throughout Croatia. Therefore, we hope to continue with the implementation of project activities of aestheticization and revitalization of the prison space with art, with the possibility of active involvement of inmates.