One of the important missions of Modem Project Space is to present young foreign artists to the Debrecen audience. The first step in this endeavour is the solo exhibition Family Stranger by Dutch-Polish photographer Wiosna van Bon. The photo series deals with families in which one of the members has been imprisoned. In a lyrical, abstract way, the artist presents the psychological processes that family members and prisoners potentially go through during their time in prison.
The images are taken in prison and in or around the homes of family members. These locations are complemented by various objects, mostly toys, most of which refer to the parent-child relationship and the carefree world outside, as a counterpoint to the harshness of prison. The themes of silence, confinement and surveillance dominate the photographs, but the emergence of plants also suggests the hope of a new beginning. In addition to the pictures, the exhibition also features video interviews with psychologists and social workers from Debrecen who work in the prison system in Hungary, to help viewers gain a more nuanced understanding of what prisoners and their relatives are going through.
One of the main aims of the photo series is to show that the family of the person serving a prison sentence is also a “convict”: family members may experience a similar imprisonment in their daily lives. The lives of the families who suffer this continue, filled with shame, while the offender is cut off from the real world and placed in a system of supervision and discipline.