The Power of Healing:Art Workshops in Select Prisons of West Bengal

The paper is based on the field study undertaken in select prisons of West Bengal where creative art workshops have been introduced for purposes of inmate-rehabilitation following a penal change. Qualitative methodology have been used to collect data that reflect centre-periphery realities of governance and how artist-activists are creating a difference among the beneficiaries behind bars. Digitally recorded primary data has been analysed and presented that bring out the healing potential of art for marginalized people in a post-colonial India. The complexities of access to and management of resources to the centre-periphery debate are highlighted through the paper.