OSCE supports Borderline Reality art exhibition on Human Rights Day to promote rehabilitation of convicted persons in Armenia

ARMAVIR, Armenia, 10 December 2014 – On the occasion of Human Rights Day the OSCE Office in Yerevan supported an art exhibition at the newly-opened penitentiary institution in Armavir, which highlights the need for rehabilitating and reintegrating convicted people into society.

The exhibition, Borderline Reality, was organized today by the Offenders Rehabilitation Centre, which is a state non-commercial organization of Armenia’s Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry’s Penitentiary Department with support from the OSCE Office.

“We are pleased to mark the Human Rights Day with this exhibition to underline the importance of the penal reforms and efforts aimed at rehabilitation and successful re-integration of convicted persons,” said Head of the OSCЕ Office in Yerevan, Ambassador Andrey Sorokin.

The exhibition is organized by artist-curator Samvel Saghatelyan, and includes art works by the artist and convicts from the Sevan, Kosh and Abovyan penitentiary institutions. The exhibition aims to contribute to eliminating societal stigmas, to promote the rehabilitation of persons through culture and artwork, and involve the people in penitentiary institutions in artwork. 

“The event was marked by the fact that primarily the convicted persons themselves broke their stereotypes of “a prisoner” and were engaged in contemporary and new forms of art with enthusiasm," said Samvel Saghatelyan.

The exhibition is part of the Office’s activities to promote the implementation of legal and penal reforms and reinforce human rights in the administration of justice.