TIME, PLACE, ROOM

Through a series of five-day workshops run by Preus Museum in collaboration with Tina Enghoff and prison chaplain Kamille Nygård, the participating inmates were free to express their experience of reality using text and photography.

These images and texts express frustration, hopelessness, and deep feelings of being people erased from society, but also hope - a hope to step out into the world again. After the workshop, one of the participants said: "Let's say you've walked in the woods for months and gotten lost. Then, suddenly you see people again, and civilisation. It feels a bit like that - as if someone from the outside comes along to show us we're not forgotten".

Preus Museum wishes to create an arena not only for knowledge and experience but also with room for critical reflection and creative insight. This exhibition presents strong and personal testimonies from the inmates, which could be an essential contribution to the social debate about punishment and penalty practices. The exhibition is part of a significant national venture lead by Preus Museum, exploring how photography can enable participation in democracy. The TIME, PLACE, ROOM project is supported by Kulturrådet. The aim is to give those with no voice in society the chance to become part of the public debate and part of the Norwegian cultural inheritance.

The project TIME, PLACE, ROOM is an essential step towards Preus Museum's aim to create an arena not only for knowledge and experience but also with room for critical reflection and creative insight. Photography is a valuable tool that can enable increased participation in society. The project goal is to shine a light onto those with no voice in society through photographic and textual self-representation, as well as let their voices be a part of the Norwegian cultural inheritance by implementing their work into the museums' collection.