Alfredo Jaar at Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Widely regarded as one of the world’s most politically engaging yet poetic artists, Jaar addresses humanitarian trauma, inequalities and injustices around the world.

The original version of this work was displayed outside the Underground Gallery. Generously donated by the artist and a/political, this iteration of the work sees the cells permanently installed within this young woodland, opening up this area of the Park for the first time. Visitors are invited to walk amongst the trees to discover the hidden structures.

The steel cells reference ‘black sites’, the secret detention facilities around the world operated by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The structures are partially obscured from view, in the same way the ‘black sites’ and the torturous activity happening is hidden from public view. Some of the known sites include Guantanamo Bay in Cuba; Salt Pit, also known as Cobalt and Code Black in Afghanistan; the hidden prison Bright Light in Romania, and others located in Italy, Poland, Lithuania, Thailand, Kenya and Egypt.

The cells all have a one-metre square base inspired by the poem One Square Metre of Prison by the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, who was imprisoned many times and spent much of his life in exile. As with the installation, the poem reminds us of the privilege
of freedom and the power of the human imagination.

Born in Chile in 1956, Jaar has been resident in New York for over forty years. His work has received critical acclaim worldwide and has been acquired by collections including Tate, M+ Hong Kong, Guggenheim, MoMA New York, LACMA Los Angeles, and the Pompidou, Paris.