Incarcerated Artists and Authors Shed Light on Prison Censorship
Hyperallergic, September 20, 2023: Incarcerated Artists and Authors Shed Light on Prison Censorship
“The United States Constitution’s Bill of Rights ostensibly protects Americans’ freedom of speech and expression; however, for incarcerated people, this fundamental civil liberty is often compromised. A new art exhibition in New York City, curated by prison abolitionist Mariame Kaba and co-organized by nonprofit PEN America, puts a spotlight on the harsh realities of carceral censorship experienced by currently and recently imprisoned artists, authors, and readers.
“‘Prisons don’t just censor material, they censor people,’ Kaba told Hyperallergic. A long-time transformative justice organizer, author, and educator, Kaba is the founder of Project NIA, a grassroots initiative aimed at the abolition of youth incarceration, helps lead the Interrupting Criminalization advocacy initiative, and published the acclaimed book We Do This ‘Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice in 2021.
“In partnership with organizations Empowerment Avenue, Rikers Public Memory Project, and OlaRonke Akinmowo’s Free Black Women’s Library, Return to Sender: Prison as Censorship is a group show of works by artists, authors, and activists that exposes the multi-faceted system of surveillance and censorship implemented through prisons and promotes a greater call to action for the abolition of the prison industrial complex. The exhibition is hosted at the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts (EFA) Project Space on West 39th Street through October 28.”
Additional reading:
EFA Project Space: Return to Sender: Prison as Censorship, curated by Mariame Kaba, co-organized by PEN America, September 14 - October 28, 2023
We Do This 'Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice by Mariame Kaba on bookshop.org
