Condemned within the four walls of a prison, they have been seeking redemption through painting and now art works by West Bengal prisoners are available for the world to admire courtesy an e-commerce portal selling affordable artwork.
With the aim to provide the inmates with an avenue for income and to nurture the artist in them, ArtMikado has collaborated with the West Bengal correctional administration department and put up 25 paintings of the inmates on their online gallery.
"Our vision is to provide a platform for untapped talented artists giving them a global stage to showcase their artwork. Continuing that endeavour, we have put up the paintings by the jail inmates on our gallery under our 'H-ART' (Hope through Art)," said ArtMikado CEO Shitij Ghakhar on Wednesday.
The prisoners have been trained to paint by the "Flight to Harmony Foundation" a non-governmental organisation engaged in reforming the prisoners through art, and sale proceeds from the paintings will go towards the welfare fund for the inmates created by the jail administration.
The H-ART initiative was unveiled by minister of the department of correctional administration Haider Aziz Safwi at the Alipore correctional home here on Wednesday.