In collaboration with Louisa Mammeri
Bangkok Art Book Fair, BACC Bangkok
2025
We looked at prisons as an institution that "hosts" prisoners and asked: What does this form of hosting feel and taste like to prisoners? And what are prisoners making of that experience? In a variety of contexts, including 1970s-1980s Singapore, 1990s-2000s Israel / Palestine, and the 2020s Myanmar, we found that time and food are extremely regulated, repetitive and endlessly stretched or bland.
At the same time, both become a material through which inmates seek integrity, solidarity and liberation. New meanings are ascribed to food and alliances emerge between prisoners. For example,
- Hacks candies become a currency.
- Sunflower seeds are used to assess the possibility of returning home.
- Squid rings are avoided due to their association with masturbation.
- Falafel is made in the course of 6-7 hours with inmates taking shifts to ensure the guards won't find out.
Our research spans different decades and contexts, within which the prison system has introduced new rules and regulations. In Singapore's modern prisons, CCTV cameras might make it harder to cultivate a parallel, secret universe. We also see that inmates (e.g. in France) are using technology to let their cooking skills be known to the outside world, some of whom become chefs upon release from prison.
Ultimately, what stayed most with guests is the agency and creativity inmates applied to stay sane, dignified and connected (with each other and the world outside).
Photo courtesy of Dimas Angkling and Bangkok Art Book Fair