Hyear started by Hakimi, Moroccan footballer from Paris Saint-Germain. Gradually, they drew the others: Mandela with Rosa Parks, Bob Marley, Marco Pannella, Shakira, Fabri Fibra, Sponge Bob and Homer Simpson. Between real characters and comic book protagonists, there are also fragments of real life, a tire to remember the long journey as illegal immigrants towards Europethe self-portrait of a minor hiding his face with his hand, messages in bottles such as: “Forgiveness with oneself makes one free” and the moving SOS sent to mother: “Come and get me in a few months”. There are many stories behind those figures, stories of who one is, and perhaps is in a juvenile prison, and of who one would like to be.
“(Search) Raphael in prison” is a large tapestry that reinterprets Raphael’s School of Athens cartoonpreserved in the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, of which it reproduces the measurements of 8 x 3 metres. They made it with wax crayons on scraps of canvas then sewn together – around a hundred inmates, young people from the Ipm (juvenile penal institutions) of Milan, Bologna, Rome and Naples, together with adults from other prisons. They chose whether to represent themselves or represent a reference figure. Marco Pannella, for example, was proposed by a prisoner because he had known him: he was the only politician who went to visit penitentiary institutions at Christmas.
This collective work was completed under the guidance of the artist Mattia Cavanna as part of the Orizzonti di Rava Foundationsupported by Mediobanca, with theobjective of «offering young prisoners effective tools to develop skills, regain confidence and build a different future» says president Mariavittoria Rava. Exhibited for the first time at the Ambrosiana, with the collaboration of IED, it will go to prisons, then to some museums.
The tapestry “(Search) Raphael in prison” was created as part of the Orizzonti project of the Rava Foundation. Photo Carlo Pagani
Juvenile prisons: It is important to create a network that works
Orizzonti is one of the many projects activated in 19 Italian IPMs, where 572 minors and young adults are locked up (there were 381 in 2022), including 242 foreigners, while there are only 21 girls. The most crowded juvenile prisons are those of Nisida, (74 boys) and the Beccaria in Milan (72) (data from “I don’t believe you anymore”, VIII Report on juvenile justice in Italy of the association Antigonewhich has been dealing with the rights and guarantees of prisoners since 1991). THE projects are the most varied; artistic, sporting, cultural, educational, and they all have the objective of preparing young people for their reintegration into society; directly, by discovering some professions, or indirectly, by strengthening the so-called soft skills, i.e. the ability to work in a group, self-esteem, flexibility, autonomy. The important thing for them to work is that a climate of trust and a valid network are created between internal educators, social workers, professionals and volunteers. But above all that no one is judged. If the atmosphere in juvenile prison is positive, the results come.
Rap is an accessible language
«We took the young people from Beccaria to see Raphael’s cartoon to create a version close to their feelings. They managed to get in touch with their emotions and the beautiful part of themselves» says Delfina Boni, manager of Orizzonti.«A long-distance dialogue was created between young people with a common experience of abandonment, degradation and often dependenceAt Beccaria, the vast majority are Msna (unaccompanied foreign minors, ed.) and very few knew Raffaello. But participating in an art workshop, in silence, creates a situation of well-being. They are people with a very low attention span, but with us they transform.”
Also Benedetta Genisio, contact person for the association’s permanent cultural presidium Cco (Crisis as an opportunity) he believes that art can have a “transformative drive”. Cco’s project was born in 2012 from a collaboration with the rapper Luca Caiazzo, aka Lucariello. Today it involves seven Ipm and, in 2025 alone, it saw 1500 hours of training activities, distributed without interruption over 12 months. «When it is continuous, art has a strong impact on children» explains Genisio. «Rap is a language accessible to everyone. We start from writing the lyrics; the former are generally about discomfort. Then they become more introspective, they become a tool for telling one’s story. Once this part is finished, we record the songs – we have professional equipment – and produce them. We recently released Petite by 2shot on Spotify (the stage name chosen by two twins locked up in Airola, Benevento), with Lucariello. The boys were committed, if a fight broke out in the juvenile prison, they kept to themselves. They have become more aware.”
It’s just a pilot professional training course on entertainment professions has started which includes 500 hours of training and 1 year of internship, both paid. For now 14 kids are participating. «Our message is: if you commit, there is a world outside that listens to you and responds» concludes Genisio.
Writing lyrics during a CCO (Crisis As Opportunity) rap workshop in an Ipm. Photo Antonio Carpinteri.
In Rome, expressive workshops in the library of the juvenile prison
Remaining in the cultural field, it is worth mentioning the library of the Ipm of Casal del Marmo, in Rome, founded in 2014 on the initiative of two educators who had carried out their civil service in the juvenile prison.Today it has 6000 books, and has just been renovated thanks to the contribution of the Waldensian Table. But how do young prisoners – only 50 percent are Italian – approach reading? Andreina De Vecchi, of the voluntary association FuoriRiga who manages the library, explains that «you have to go step by step, involve them. We offer expressive workshops on writing and reading that help them bring out their emotions. We select books based on their requests: comics, novels, autobiographies, love stories. A cultural mediator helps us choose those in Arabic. Furthermore, through the establishment of some job grants they can receive theoretical-practical training to carry out reception and secretarial activities, with the aim of reintegration into work”.
Sport can also bring benefits: «It teaches respect for the rules and for opponents, and collaboration» says Franco Dardanelli, president of the Solliccianese sports center in Florence which, after a positive experience with the adults in the Sollicciano prison, is starting to collaborate with the IPM of Florencenear Santa Maria Novella. «We would like to organize a five-a-side football tournament and a basketball tournament, there is no shortage of facilities. We have seen that it is important to guarantee the periodicity of the matches, so the training has a precise objective. Among the benefits found is the lower demand for drugs and more attention to nutrition.”
A young inmate of a juvenile prison. Photo Antonio Carpinteri.
From juvenile prison to inclusion internship
Art, music, sport, reading and writing are important for broadening horizons and desires, for dealing with the outside world and for taking responsibility. And think about the “after”. A well-structured proposal for reintegration into work is that ofsocial enterprise Archè of Cataniain the Ipm of Catania and Acireale. «First we meet the minors reported by the educators, and we prepare an individual project» explains Marianna Cona of Archè. «We never ask what crime they are in prison for, what matters is creating a relationship of trust. We offer a social inclusion internship which is a six-month “on-the-job” training with an attendance allowance of 500 euros per month. We try to accommodate their aptitudes but first do some orientation, because they often have no idea how the job works.”
If all goes well, if there is the judge’s approval, the documents are sent to the Employment Center and we begin. The internships that started concern warehouse workers, kitchen, dining room, bar and workshop workers. Of the 15 minors already involved, 13 have completed their commitment. «Some have remained to work in the same companies, and we have helped the others to find employment» continues Cona. «We don’t leave them alone. If a boy believes it, the possibility of recidivism drops to zero. The IPMs of eastern Sicily are a happy island.” © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED