“BEHIND WALLS, BEYOND BARS” PDL ART EXHIBITION OPENS AT THE NMP

Last 28 October 2024, the Justice Sector Coordinating Council – Quezon City Justice Zone and Bagong Buhay Group of Artists, launched “Behind Walls, Beyond Bars: National Correctional Consciousness Week Art Exhibition” at the National Museum of Fine Arts.

The exhibition features a collection of paintings and pyrography (wood-burned works) made by persons deprived of liberty, or PDLs, as part of an art competition for the 2024 National Correctional Awareness Week.

In a brief opening ceremony, NMP’s Director-General Jeremy Barns conveyed how this exhibition, which marks the culmination of this year’s National Museums and Galleries Month, “truly lives up to the MGM themes of fostering innovation, allowing PDLs to showcase the transformative power of art as means of expression and change.”

Moreover, Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Karl Miranda outlined the importance of this exhibition to the PDL artists. “This exhibition signifies a new beginning—a symbolic way of celebrating a milestone in the lives of the PDL artists, looking beyond and above their plight, moving past their commiseration, and celebrating their important contribution to the country’s culture and the arts”, Miranda emphasized.

Meanwhile, Executive Judge of the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City Rosanna Fe Romero Maglaya acknowledged the 170 PDLs who participated in the art competition. “We now appreciate the realization that incarceration is not the be-all and end-all of the Philippine criminal justice system; it is a step towards rehabilitation and reintegration to society”, Maglaya stated.

First Lady Louise Araneta Marcos graced the event as guest of honor, leading the ribbon-cutting ceremony to formally open the exhibition.

Behind Walls, Beyond Bars is on view until 5 January 2025 at the Sandiganbayan Hall of the National Museum of Fine Arts.

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