Convicts' works of art to be displayed at Dom Omladine

BELGRADE - PAROL! - Writing and Art Beyond Walls, Beyond Borders, an extraordinary exhibition as part of a European project that involved convicts from 13 prisons in five European countries, will open at Belgrade's Dom Omladine on Thursday.

The convicts were given the opportunity to tell their side of the truth about being in prison, and that truth has transcended not only prison walls, but also state borders, becoming part of the international cultural exchange.

The exhibition will feature works by convicts from Greece, Belgium and Italy.

The Serbian part of the project, ran by the ApsArt organisation, was done in collaboration with ex-convicts, children and young people from the Institute for Education of Children and Youth and the Children's Shelter in Belgrade.

The curator of the exhibition is visual artist Nebojsa Petrovic, and a publication by former convicts will also be unveiled in the same venue.

In collaboration with the ApsArt team, they compiled an illustrated dictionary of prison slang - a publishing endeavour that is rare on a global scale.

The exhibition, which ends on November 13, is a side-event of the Free Zone film festival.