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TEXT ARTIST – – NICOLA VALENTINO ROSSELLA BISCOTTI “Life imprisonment is a slavery punish- On April 4th in 1991, on my 37th birthday ment: The state takes away someone’s I wrote in my diary: “Prison is my home”. life by giving a death sentence, but Life imprisonment is a word that life imprisonment means actually having frighteningly exceeds the limits of the someone’s life.” knowable. When someone is sentenced with a temporal punishment they can at “...During those days I started pro- least imagine vaguely what’s to be ex- nouncing more and more often the words pected. Whatever happens there is an life imprisonment, lingering over the exit date written on the sentence, difference between me and the other which orientates imagination. Having prisoners, as there was a fixed end more possibilities to give sense to what for their punishment, regardless of is happening, the prisoner is in the its length. They could say: “On that position of thinking of vital reactions: day, whatever happens, they have to a dream, a hope... release me!” The new prisoner serving a life sentence On the contrary - ‘I have to realise falls prey to something not defined, and I am imprisoned for life’, I repeated for this reason is anguished and fright- to myself and to the ones I love most. ened. There’s an urge to give this a I caused my family sorrow, and encoun- sense, to give it boundaries in order to tered disappointment in my fellow be able to survive. Try to imagine still prisoners. being alive, but declared dead! But life imprisonment was there, and I Life imprisonment is like a bullet made could not ignore it anymore. I started from the unknown, which explodes in the to acknowledge and accept my condition, brain and throws the unfortunate in a pronouncing it until I was bored, or total bewilderment. To keep its presence cried, or laughed. My whole way of life to itself and give sense to what’s hap- was changing a lot, I realised it be- pening, the body, on the threshold, cause of small things: I stopped buying does all sorts of things: it laughs and newspapers and I wasn’t interested in cries, is petrified and gets excited, reading them anymore. I was irritated is desperate and proud; it can be in- by discussions about politics, by the TV; credulous, or kill itself. I started feeling completely disconnect- Death has more sense, mankind created ed from the world, no longer possessing religions and many other languages to a voice about everyday things. If you understand death, but none of these are left without civil and political languages helps when you have to imag- rights forever, what’s the point of be- ine life imprisonment”. ing informed, and talking about politics? The other word that became unbearable Nicola Valentino was born in Avellino in to me was hope, together with any time- 1954. He was imprisoned in 1979 with a related metaphor, which would displace life sentence for acts related to the life into future or past. I preferred armed struggle of the seventies. He at- to imagine the future in a spatial tained definitive release in 2006. He dimension, following the metaphor of is one of the founding members of the the path, in which the future is repre- publishing house Sensibili alle foglie. sented by the next step. To control space seemed easier than imagining time. a, who attempted attempted who a, lb A ’ D onio nt A to hen t boni family. family. boni or B the for ing nd nd A iani. ar M seppe iu G and za, on M in Islands of Ventotene and Santo Stefano. Santo and Ventotene of Islands - work engineer the and brothers lish ng E ° ° I erto mb U kill to managed who sci, re B of the State Natural Reserve of the the of Reserve Natural State the of tion indicating any link between the the between link any indicating tion tano tano ae G nd a °, I erto mb U kill to tried is the Director Director the is Perretta Francesco - informa no is there if even — brothers iarito, who who iarito, cc A erto mb U Pietro including tham tham en B the by formulated originally anarchists many to doors prison the education and redemption. redemption. and education the model of the Panopticon, which was was which Panopticon, the of model the oia opened opened oia av S he T role. revolutionary imprisonment as a possibility for re- for possibility a as imprisonment the first structure realised based on on based realised structure first the who was supposed to have had an active active an had have to supposed was who when the constitutional rules intended intended rules constitutional the when s was probably probably was s hi T elements. the tween cco, cco, ro C mine ar C including well, as oned and humanity to the prisoners, not even even not prisoners, the to humanity and - be relation inverted an with les, ap N - impris were bandits some family oia av S applied the basic principles of respect respect of principles basic the applied in theatre, lo ar C an S the of cent er the reigning reigning the er nd U venta. pa S vio il S and never unfortunately which regimes, - reminis is building the totality s it n I tembrini tembrini et S gi ui L to Poerio, seppe iu G ondly, the ruling governments and their their and governments ruling the ondly, boni family opened their doors to to doors their opened family boni or B - sec and conditions, inhuman and cruel prisoners. prisoners. diately from the beginning when the the when beginning the from diately who served their prison sentence in in sentence prison their served who and isolation for the most dangerous of of dangerous most the for isolation and - imme even history; political ly’s ta I to Firstly, the huge amount of prisoners prisoners of amount huge the Firstly, any windows, intended for punishment punishment for intended windows, any of imprisoned personalities important important personalities imprisoned of allows us to keep in mind two aspects: aspects: two mind in keep to us allows floor are two more prison cells, without without cells, prison more two are floor fano includes a history full full history a includes fano te S to an S ing these important personalities personalities important these ing am N ated on the ground ground the on ated oc L people. four meters and was intended for three to to three for intended was and meters tively closed and completely abandoned. abandoned. completely and closed tively ope. ur E unified a of idea the promoted h cell measures 4.5 x 4.2 4.2 x 4.5 measures cell h ac E cells. - defini was prison the that 1965 until , which which , Manifesto Ventotene the totene, contains 33 cells for a total of 99 99 of total a for cells 33 contains sn’t sn’t wa t I use. building’s the of years - Ven of island neighboring the on wrote composed of three floors, each of which which of each floors, three of composed enio Perucatti, and during the last last the during and Perucatti, enio ug E nelli, who who nelli, pi S iero lt A itionally, dd A jewel: it’s shaped as a horseshoe and and horseshoe a as shaped it’s jewel: under the management of the director director the of management the under president of the constituent assembly. assembly. constituent the of president architectural an is tructure s he T prisoners, were introduced around 1950, 1950, around introduced were prisoners, lian communist party but became became but party communist lian ta I the improved living conditions for the the for conditions living improved racini, who was twice expelled from from expelled twice was who racini, er T tion work took place. took work tion the only interventions, which actually actually which interventions, only the erto erto mb U indomitable the and ignola) er C - construc that 1797 and 1792/3 between ever, ever, ow H regime. Fascist twenty-year from leader trade-union important s then then s wa t I prison. the construct and prisoners up until and through the the through and until up prisoners ttorio (an (an ttorio Vi i D seppe iu G ccimarro, co S onio Winspeare, to design design to Winspeare, onio nt A of orator the structure also hosted political political hosted also structure the io io ar M go, on L gi ui L si, au C i L olamo er G - collab a pi, ar C Francesco engineer the ides those serving a life sentence, sentence, life a serving those ides es B chia, ec S Pietro ideals: communist boni family who approached approached who family boni or B the by prisoners with extremely bad behaviour. behaviour. bad extremely with prisoners amount of other individuals espousing espousing individuals other of amount 17 the of end the at place took century century th nal perimeter to host anarchists and and anarchists host to perimeter nal ublic, and a good good a and ublic, ep R lian ta I the of dent fano te S to an S on structure imprisonment - exter the around built was section new - Presi became later who Pertini dro an S life the construct to ecision d he T ost a century later, in 1880-85, a a 1880-85, in later, century a ost lm A the regime imprisoned the socialist socialist the imprisoned regime the waist and connected to the ankles.

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