Fifty-two Hsinchu Prison inmates on Saturday last week received street artist permits from the Ministry of Justice’s Agency of Corrections — part of a government program to help inmates make the transition back into society and start a new life, agency Director Wu Man-ying (巫滿盈) said.
Street performances allow inmates or former inmates tare in direct contact with the community and the agency hopes this contact will motivate inmates or former inmates to integrate with society, Hsinchu Prison Warden Huang Chun-tang (黃俊棠) said.
The goal was to change prison stereotypes and offer inmates a cultured environment, Huang said.
Photo: Tsai Chang-sheng, Taipei Times
To achieve this goal the prison has cooperated with many street artists and introduced different cultural activities and workshops in recent years, he added.
The ceremony held to confer the permits on Saturday included drumming, dancing and ukulele performances as well as a demonstration of dog training, Huang said. There were also demonstrations of Chinese calligraphy, painting, aluminum sculpting and handweaving.
One inmate, surnamed Tsai (蔡), was moved to tears when he received his permit, saying he had never thought he would be able to bring joy to those whom he had intimidated, robbed and mugged.
Another inmate, surnamed Kao (高), who is serving a 10-and-a-half-year sentence for selling custom modified guns during his youth, said he felt nothing but despair when he started serving his sentence.
Kao said he read a magazine article on aluminum sculpting, and it piqued his interest. With encouragement from the prison wardens and his parents, he had — along with other interested inmates — started an aluminum-sculpting workshop in prison.
The Chio Tian Folk Drums and Art Troupe was also invited to start drum classes in the prison, Huang said, adding that the drumming group formed by inmates had won many competitions and performed in other places on request.
One of the troupe members, surnamed Cheng (鄭), said he never imagined he could have changed so much.
Another inmate, surnamed Chang (張), who is serving a sentence for customizing guns, said he regretted that his actions took him away from his wife and from his three children during their formative years.
Chang, who learned clowning, said his children had forgiven him his absence after seeing his efforts, adding that he was determined to walk the straight and narrow from now on.
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