Murales de libertad

In Morelia's high-security penitentiary, where the architecture is designed to keep spirits calm, three artists led a group of inmates to create monumental murals, breaking the prison landscape of gray, concrete and barbed wire. In December 2019, Spaik, Cix and Said Dokins worked for a month from the Morelia High Security Penitentiary Center to produce the largest murals in Mexico's prison system. Under the direction and guidance of the artists, 29 volunteers inside the prison were part of the process, from deciding on concepts and elements to production and execution. Both the artists and the inmates lived a unique experience, full of learning and reflection. Spaik designed a mural with birds in full flight and bright colors, promoting ideas of freedom, hope and movement, precisely in a place that symbolizes the constant deprivation of these concepts. Producing this project was particularly memorable, enriching and, at the same time, exhausting for Spaik: "It's something that changed my life. I'll never forget it [...] To understand that life is really fucked up, nothing and no one is exempt from being there. Life goes round and round. And that's why I don't judge those people. You really understand what it's like to be free". Antonio Triana 'Cix' explored the concept of mental health. He wanted to talk about perspectives and how adopting a different attitude towards circumstances can change everything. His design presents two characters in parallel dimensions. In another of the buildings, Said Dokins created a symmetrical composition with text in one of his calligraphic styles, with the theme of memory as a common thread. Dokins began the creative process by establishing conversations with the inmates, from which he collected phrases, poems, words, experiences, feelings, revelry and nicknames. With all that, he created a geometric figure "that symbolizes the crossroads of life," on which the writing allows him to place fragments of the inmates' lives, and with that "print their mark so that everyone can see it, so that everyone remembers it. Thus, this piece "is a reflection on identity, memory, and the life lived in prison. From the underground culture that is generated from the language, the slang, the nicknames and even the deepest reflections of confinement and freedom," says Dokins.