Hugo Hemmi is an artist and educator who is currently working with women and men in situations of detention in Swiss prisons.
He holds a social work degree and a master of fine art from Geneva University of Art and Design. In 2018, he was the laureate of ICRC (International committee of the Red Cross) – Art and Humanity award and more recently of the Patiño Foundation award for a residency in “la Cité internationale des arts de Paris”, Optic residency program in Sweden and the City of Geneva award for a community art project. He is interested in the role and possibility of the art in the de-constructed structure of power and institutional toxic masculinity. He is inspired as an art producer in prison by radical pédagogies by thinkers like Paolo Freire and Jacques Rancière.
Art as a Freedom Strategy in Swiss Prisons
Since when is art allowed in prison? Is art a useful tool in prison? Is it expected or unexpected for art to be created in prison?
Who were the pioneers of art in prison? We will also look at how Jean Dubuffet founded the “Art brut” concept?