A group of European graffiti artists took to the walls of ‘Justizvollzugsanstalt Rockenberg’, a youth prison in Germany. The roster of international artists included Roid, Horfèe, Ken Sortais, SatOne, Score, and Fence.
The artists painted large murals on the prison walls, and were assisted by a selected group of inmates. For them, working in the prison posed a different kind of risk as compared to doing graffiti in the street.
Initially, security was tense because of the use of ladders and scaffolds right next to prison walls and some of the cells’ windows, but no trouble was raised during the project. In fact, the artists and prisoners got along pleasantly.
“I thought we wouldn’t be allowed to participate really, I thought it would be only ‘Clean up behind the artists!’. But they allowed us to really do something useful with them,” said Mohamed, an inmate.
The project aimed to enrich the prisoners’ lives through positive social activities, and to encourage them to take on responsibilities.
[via Draw A Line]