A step up from the chain gang
May 22, 2006
The Toronto Star
BY AVET DEMOURIAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Crafts created by Armenian inmates Prisoners proud of handiwork
YEREVAN, Armenia—Men in black turtlenecks bend over the workshop tables, intently carving key chains, model ships, even an elaborate walnut backgammon set.
These and other handicrafts will go for sale at the Prison Arts kiosk at a weekend market in the centre of Yerevan, the capital. It's part of a new program to occupy the time of Armenia's prison inmates.
The program is the brainchild of Justice Minister David Arutyunian and the director of the ministry's prison reform program, Nikolai Arustamian. The inmate "is occupied, he creates and gets satisfaction from this," Arutyunian says. "For many, the financial aspect is secondary."
The prisoners weave wall hangings and craft watches, religious medallions, slippers and leather cases for mobile phones and keys. Each piece gets a label in Armenian and English identifying the craftsman and describing what materials were used.
The label does not indicate the sentence being served by the artisan or the crime — but the inmates eagerly volunteer that information.
"I've been `inside' since I was 16," says 34-year-old Fyodor Matriashin, serving his sixth sentence for robbery. "I began making wooden boxes when I first arrived, but I used to give them away. Now I'm paid for them."
Each of Armenia's 13 prisons, home to some 3,000 inmates, had some sort of manufacturing department when the country was part of the Soviet Union, but production shut down and most of the equipment was carted away after the federation broke apart at the end of 1991.
An advocacy group, the Assistance to the Prisoner Fund, started prisoners making clothes and now is trying to revive the manufacture of ceramics and bricks at Erebuni prison, a facility in Yerevan for repeat offenders.
But it is the crafts workshops that seem to give prisoners the greatest satisfaction.
"Just about everyone in the prison uses my cigarette holders," says Abel Pogosian, a 32-year-old serving his fifth sentence for assault. "Now maybe someone on the outside will like them, too."
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
The Toronto Star
BY AVET DEMOURIAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Crafts created by Armenian inmates Prisoners proud of handiwork
YEREVAN, Armenia—Men in black turtlenecks bend over the workshop tables, intently carving key chains, model ships, even an elaborate walnut backgammon set.
These and other handicrafts will go for sale at the Prison Arts kiosk at a weekend market in the centre of Yerevan, the capital. It's part of a new program to occupy the time of Armenia's prison inmates.
The program is the brainchild of Justice Minister David Arutyunian and the director of the ministry's prison reform program, Nikolai Arustamian. The inmate "is occupied, he creates and gets satisfaction from this," Arutyunian says. "For many, the financial aspect is secondary."
The prisoners weave wall hangings and craft watches, religious medallions, slippers and leather cases for mobile phones and keys. Each piece gets a label in Armenian and English identifying the craftsman and describing what materials were used.
The label does not indicate the sentence being served by the artisan or the crime — but the inmates eagerly volunteer that information.
"I've been `inside' since I was 16," says 34-year-old Fyodor Matriashin, serving his sixth sentence for robbery. "I began making wooden boxes when I first arrived, but I used to give them away. Now I'm paid for them."
Each of Armenia's 13 prisons, home to some 3,000 inmates, had some sort of manufacturing department when the country was part of the Soviet Union, but production shut down and most of the equipment was carted away after the federation broke apart at the end of 1991.
An advocacy group, the Assistance to the Prisoner Fund, started prisoners making clothes and now is trying to revive the manufacture of ceramics and bricks at Erebuni prison, a facility in Yerevan for repeat offenders.
But it is the crafts workshops that seem to give prisoners the greatest satisfaction.
"Just about everyone in the prison uses my cigarette holders," says Abel Pogosian, a 32-year-old serving his fifth sentence for assault. "Now maybe someone on the outside will like them, too."
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 8:50 AM
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