Artwork by CCR clients Djamel Ameziane and Ghaleb Al-Bihani will be displayed in an exhibit, Artwork from Guantanamo Bay Prison, as part of SUNY Geneseo's 2018 Cultural Harmony Week.

Since it opened in 2002, the offshore U.S. military prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba has been shrouded in secrecy.  One of the ways the men detained ­­­­­­­­­­have connected to the outside world and reclaimed their humanity is through art and storytelling. Creating art has been a way for prisoners to express feelings of uncertainty, torment, and hope, and imagine life beyond their detention. When formal artwork classes at Guantánamo were sanctioned under the Obama administration, government-censored artwork was permitted to travel outside the prison to family members and lawyers. Some of the artists in this exhibit have since been released from Guantánamo; others have been detained for 16 years, with no end in sight. None of the artists have ever been charged with a crime. In November 2017, the US military banned any more artwork from leaving the prison.

You can find out more about the programmaing by visiting the university’s website.