The General Directorate of Cultural Industries and Arts has developed the "Creative Freedom" program, which coordinates initiatives led by the Line Directorates, specifically addressed to populations deprived of liberty: "Freedom of the Word", of the Directorate of Books and Reading; and "Audiovisual Training Workshop", of the Directorate of Audiovisual Art, Phonography and New Media.
The Directorate of Books and Reading develops the "Freedom of the Word" program since 2016. This initiative seeks to benefit children, adolescents, youths, adults and senior citizens in situation of vulnerability and/or social exclusion, by training the professionals from the institutions in charge of working with this population nationwide, for the planning and development of actions for the circulation of books and the promotion of reading and writing among the participants of the program and their families.
This program has three divisions:
1) Reading intervention [permanent reading sessions with literary conversation in book clubs and the visit of a suggested writer]
2) Creative writing [reinterpretation of texts in any artistic or creative format]
3) Reading Families [lending and circulation of books, and promotion of reading as a family activity]
The Audiovisual Training Project (PFA) has been managed since 2014 at the Youth Center for Diagnosis and Rehabilitation of Lima (CJDRL) and carried out through institutional collaboration agreements by the Ministry of Culture, the Youth Centers' National Program (PRONACEJ) of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights (before, the Judiciary was in charge of the Youth Centers Administration) and the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (through its Faculty of Communications and the Academic Office of Social Responsibility).
This project stems from the need to look for new ways to approach the social reintegration of adolescents in conflict with the criminal law of our country.
The project lasts approximately six months and is divided into three stages: i) Film laboratory; ii) Participatory master classes; and iii) Filmmaking workshop. It involves the critical appreciation of audiovisual works, familiarization with the audiovisual language, and the making of short films by the participants (from the creation of the script to recording and editing). This initiative seeks to foster dialogue, collaborative work and new relations between young inmates and their environment (relations and ties with technical teams, with other inmates, with external agents, volunteers, etc.); to motivate the expression and consolidation of identity when discussing and reflecting on films; to discuss stereotypes and stigmas associated to the CJDRL and the young inmates outside the Youth Center's environment, with a view to focusing on public policies and the community's subjectivity and encouraging the participants to reflect about the construction of citizenship, by approaching issues such as gender violence, disability and inclusion.
These initiatives seek to reduce inequalities, by generating access and participation of populations traditionally excluded from cultural activities, as well as by showing their own creation through the dissemination of the program and its results.
The "Freedom of the Word" program is currently developed in thirteen Penitentiary Establishments (PE) in ten regions of the country: Ancon II, Arequipa (men), Callao, Chorrillos, Huancavelica, Huancayo, Huanta, Iquitos (men), Lurigancho, Miguel Castro Castro, Moquegua, Puno and Tacna (men).
In total, to date, 3,153 participants have benefited from the program.
Regarding the activities of reading intervention (education), two training workshops have been held in reading and writing intervention for the INPE professionals in charge of the program. Additionally, in the first semester, a "First Reading Intervention Training Workshop" was developed for the inmates who collaborate as culture promoters and librarians at the Miguel Castro Castro, Lurigancho, Callao and Chorrillos PEs in order to improve access to reading and services to foster it. Subsequently, as part of the Reading Intervention, to date, 41 Peruvian writers have been promoted, and have visited the abovementioned PEs to discuss literature and meet with their readers.
Some other achievements have been identified:
* INPE assigned personnel (regional coordinators, teachers and/or psychologists) to be directly in charge of the program in their respective PEs.
* The institutional structuring of cultural and artistic activities in the PEs of the country.
* The inmates have been able to commit to the development of the program and in accordance with INPE standards.
* The impact of the activities was extended to the inmates' families, especially on visitation days and through the bolsa lectora (book bag).
To date, the Audiovisual Training Workshop has 24 short films written, produced and directed by the participating adolescents, and an approximate of 60 to 90 adolescents have been part of the process since 2014.
Moreover, in 2018, the guide "Spaces for creative freedom: an audiovisual training project for youths in conflict with criminal law" was published. This guide systematizes the project's experience and proposes methodologies to be replicated in similar projects and contexts. Available at http://dafo.cultura.pe/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Gu%C3%ADa-Espacios-de-...
Freedom of the Word (2019): Approximately USD 8,804.02
Audiovisual Training Workshop: Approximately USD 10,000 contributed by three institutions
| Name of partner | Type of entity |
|---|---|
National Penitentiary Institute (INPE)
| Public Sector
|
Youth Centers' National Program (PRONACEJ) of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights
| Public Sector
|
Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP)
| Private Sector
|
The evaluation of the program has led to the determination of lines of work to broaden its scope:
By 2020, the "Freedom of the Word" program is expected to have the participation of three institutions (INPE, Ministry of Justice and INABIF), and to be implemented in 13 additional centers (26 in total) located in 20 regions of the country.
The guide "Spaces for creative freedom: an audiovisual training project for youths in conflict with criminal law" has been prepared, including interviews with adolescents participating in the project and, taking into account the importance of developing projects that can be adapted to different contexts, providing the tools to replicate the experience.
* The contribution of the project to the expression of creativity and the development of ties between the participants stands out.
* The adolescents themselves regard the culmination of the project with a work that they recognize as their own and that shows their effort and talent as an achievement.
* Likewise, the positive impact generated on the families by knowing that the adolescents have participated in a creative process and that they can show their work once it is finished is recognized.
* The exhibition of these works enables society to access a new reality, thus having an impact on the construction of the image it has of adolescents.
* The project should be extended to all youth centers in the country and a strategy should be developed for the exhibition and dissemination of the short films.