The physical form of this catalogue has its origins in a place where most of its readers will never have set foot, namely a prison. Both the paper it is made of and the ink used to print it come from the printing press at Kaisheim Prison, and have thus found their own particular way out of a penal institution. The book then itself reflects one of the aims of the exhibition Prison is Always the Others: to give an opportunity for points of view and voices from inside prison to be seen and heard outside. For all the ubiquitous familiarity of prison buildings, the voices of those inside them are generally unknown and unheard. The aim here is to show prison as a place that really exists, and one that does so beyond the fictions created by media images and public preconceptions. The exhibition offers a variety of artistic approaches to a system which, despite becoming increasingly marginalized in public awareness, is still crucial to the effective functioning of society, albeit generally overlooked and ignored. For most of us, “prison” really is for “other people”: a phenomenon, a reality we never ourselves encounter. Once, however, we realize that we’re part of the society that builds and maintains prisons for these “other people”, our view of things might change.

Ed.: nGbK

Work group: Susanne Hanus, Heide Hinrichs, Annika Niemann, Nadin Reschke, Per Traasdahl, Karen Weinert

With contributions by: Ulf Aminde, Angelika Böck, Álvaro Garreaud, Susanne Hanus, Katharina Heilein, Heide Hinrichs, Annika Niemann, Nadin Reschke, Per Traasdahl, Doreen Uhlig, Judith Siegmund, Karen Weinert