An art exhibition went on display Friday at a former Romanian prison where communists tortured and killed political prisoners in a gruesome re-education program.
The collection of 11 sculptures at the Pitesti Prison, southern Romania, aims to remind visitors about the horrors that took place there from 1949 to 1951.
The 11.5-foot tall grey, polystyrene figures depict detainees who were tortured and humiliated to force them to become communists.
Several thousand prisoners who had fallen foul of the communist regime underwent what was known as “The Pitesti Experiment.” Prisoners were forced to stare at lightbulbs, eat feces, given electric shocks and head butt each other. They were also encouraged to inform on each other and torture fellow inmates. About 100 died from mistreatment.
Alexandru Bogdanovici, who was imprisoned because he’d been a member of the fascist Iron Guard, was co-opted to re-educate fellow prisoners. But the prison commander later considered him disloyal and he was beaten, denied water and eventually died.
For the exhibit, artist Catalin Badarau sculpted contorted, anonymous figures which lie in hallways or in former prison cells. One figure stands awkwardly on his head, others have their hands tied behind their backs or are covering their faces.
Badarau says the oversized figures, of a mottled grey color which is similar to the prison walls and floors “show the fragility of human beings.”
“They were strong people when they went into prison but they came out physical wrecks,” he told the Associated Press. “But conversely, they became spiritual giants.”