The story behind this project started at the end of last year. The prison of Mechelen wanted a mural for their 150th anniversary, the city decided to fund the project.

As a social worker I’ve spent the past 4 years working on the reintegration of ex-prisoners in Leuven, I’m no stranger to the context of prison. People knew I’m also an artist so they contacted me. I went to the prison of Mechelen a few times to brainstorm with prisoners and used that inspiration to make 3 designs, out of which the prison and city chose one.

The chameleon represents the difficult (and admirable) adaptation of people, both to the world inside a prison as to the world outside. Most people who’s freedom is taken were never free to begin with. The words on his body are ‘restore’ and ‘reintegrate’, supporting the philosophy of restorative justice (restoration of both victims and perpetrators) and the importance of a decent reintegration process.