Nada Prlja

Foreign Language for Beginners

The project looks at the reality of the conditions within the ‘Centro Penitenciario de Murcia’ detention center. This detention center numbers 33% immigrant detainees and is one of the numerous detention centers which practices system entitled “Tercer Grado”.

When immigrant detainees are under “Tercer Grado”, they gain semi-freedom status. This allows immigrant inmates to spend portion of a day outside of the detention center. In reality “Tercer Grado” status could not be practiced, as most of the immigrants detainees are illegal and therefore unable to work legally. ‘Tercer Grado’ in reality represents immigrant detainees ‘wait’ in the prison cell, for the moment of their ‘full freedom’, which in most cases means – deportation to their countries of origin.

The project ‘Foreign Language for Beginners’ looks at this particular ‘kind of freedom’ by recording videos of the immigrant detainees, in order to record and oppose the legislations, which are granted, but without an option to be accomplished in reality. The video portraits are to be recorded by the other inmates, whose rights are different, by simply being Spanish/EU citizens. I am interested in the possibility of improving/developing the position of the Immigrant population in the detention centre and to strengthen the connection of other (Spanish/EU) detainees to this numbered population within this (or any other) centre.

This project looks at possible methods of becoming ‘sustainable’ – the possibility for the project to become a regular practice (and thereby a part of the detainees’ reality and possibly other detention centers) after the closure of Manifesta 8 exhibition.