WALLS
WITHOUT
STONE
WALLS
without
STONE
“Look at me. It’s me.”
The installation Walls Without Stone by visual artist Sevilay Maria is not an accusation, it is an invitation to discomfort. This work is a physical metaphor for what exclusion feels like: a place that is not easily entered.
The space is constructed from hard, unyielding materials, metal grids, rough construction panels. Transparent fabrics hanging suspended in the air. The harsh steel and the delicate textiles create tension. They move softly in air currents, in light, whispering. They seem accessible, there are no bars, no walls. You’re free to find your own entrance and step through the fabric.
“Come closer. See me.”
At the heart of the installation are life-sized portraits of Roy and Ky-mani, two men who were once incarcerated and are now part of our free society. At least, in theory. Their faces are printed on the fabrics. They gaze at you intensely, captured in cloth, life-sized and nearby, yet still at a distance. The installation encloses you and shuts you off from the outside world.
As a viewer, you don’t become part of the space. Instead, you experience exactly what the formerly incarcerated experience: You stand in the middle of society, and yet you’re not allowed to participate. This is a place of friction between inside and outside, between being visible and still not being seen.
Roy and Ky-mani represent the many who live within our society but are never truly part of it. They must constantly fight for that one thing others take for granted: freedom. They’ve served their sentences and are trying to build a future finding work, housing, but building that future is not easy. It takes immense willpower to stay on the right path, to not fall back into old habits. They don’t ask for pity, they want you to feel what it means to be free again, to be present in society, and to come up against an invisible wall.
That is what exclusion feels like.
Walls Without Stone is about walls not made of bricks, but of origin, stigma, and judgment. Walls that Roy and Ky-mani have run into countless times. Walls most people never notice, because they’ve never been stopped by them. So what if the greatest wall is the one in our own line of sight? What if you realized exclusion is not abstract, but a person, flesh and blood?
Are you willing to question your own position, and the (governmental) systems we live in?
Sevilay is an observer, curious and attentive. For over a year, she has been working inside detention centers, asking herself how free someone truly is after serving their sentence. ‘Yes, these people have been found guilty. But aren’t they also the result of everything life has thrown at them? And haven’t they fulfilled their sentence towards society? Aren’t they judged more harshly by their environment, their past, and the absence of a safety net? Do they really get a fair chance when they return to society?’
These questions inspired Sevilay to create Walls Without Stone. The project is under construction. ‘What you see here is the beginning of something larger, rings can always be added to this installation, bringing new stories. From families, from professionals in the field, and even you can contribute your own part.’
This project was made possible in part by Stichting NDSM, House Of U, Patrick de Bas, Peter Bout, Joost Bout, Patricia Snel, House of U, Micaela Bartels, Max Poolman, Martijn Pool, Roeland de Boeck, Ilse Natasja, Jotte Hof, Robin de Vogel, Carym Zidan, Nina Constantinescu, Roy & Ky-mani.
