Today, the Mediterranean is reduced to a sea of separation, a horizontal wall that increases the distance between one part of the world and another. Instead, we would like our sea to represent something else: a sea of humanity, a bridge between west and east, north and south.
THE PROJECT
The project "Kutub Hurra, A Bridge of Books Across the Mediterranean" is promoted by Un Ponte Per (UPP) in cooperation with the Tunisian association "Lina Ben Mhenni" and a network of Italian realities operating in our country's prisons.
The project aims to create a more inclusive prison environment through the provision of Arabic-language books to prison libraries, thus giving Arab-speaking inmates and prisoners reading opportunities using books as a tool for emancipation. Having readings and literature in Arabic also means being considered in one's entirety and dignity, a necessary starting point for any path of inclusion and rehabilitation.
The project aims to exploit this opportunity to foster a horizontal exchange between civil societies on both shores of the Mediterranean, and represents an innovative challenge to the logic of one-way aid: a concrete practice of decolonising cooperation. Seeking to overcome the logic of contraposition, it intends to organise opportunities for cultural exchange to build a more human and solidarity-based world.
Download the full project description (Last updated - January 2025 - ITA).
Project partners are: Associazione Lina Ben Mhenni, University of Florence/Polo Universitario Penitenziario, AVP - Associazione di Volontariato Penitenziario, Associazione Pantagruel, Garante dei diritti delle persone private della libertà del Comune di Firenze, University of Florence/Department of Political and Social Sciences, Guarantor of the rights of persons deprived of their liberty of the Municipality of Livorno, ARCI Livorno, CESDI-Centro Servizi Donne Immigrate (Centre for the Services of Immigrant Women), Controluce - Prison Volunteer Association, Cooperativa AltraCittà, Cooperativa Orizzonti, Guarantor of the rights of persons deprived of their liberty of the Municipality of Padua.
Contact: comunicazione@unponteper.it
"We think this is an important initiative from the point of view of intercultural exchange and useful in preventing Islamist radicalism. In perspective, we can think of expanding the experience outside the prison as well, for example in the territorial library network. A group has been formed with the participation of various figures (librarians, mediators, guarantors, operators and association volunteers) that periodically meets online to take stock of the situation. At present, in addition to Padua, the realities of Livorno, Pisa, Florence, Rome and Rome are involved or at least interested in participating: Livorno, Pisa, Florence, Rome and Brescia. Everyone is invited to join and keep up-to-date by joining this group'.
Antonio Bincoletto, Guarantor of the rights of persons deprived of or restricted in their liberty, Padua.
HOW TO JOIN 'KUTUB HURRA'
Here are the steps needed to join the project:
1 - Signing a convention
A declaration of intent is signed between the UPP and the prison (the prison management; the Guarantor of the Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty; the Prison Education Area or others involved in cultural activities in the prison).
Download the draft convention.
2 - Book Selection
UPP shares with the prison the list of Arabic language books at its disposal and takes care of the delivery.
3 - Book delivery and opening event
The books are delivered by UPP to the prison and an event is organised together.
4 - Participation in regular meetings of the network of realities involved in the project
Regular meetings are organised between the associations participating in the project and representatives of the participating prisons to ensure a constant exchange of best practices and to develop innovative activities that enable the realisation of the project's objectives.
