In this exhibition, Robert Glas explores how views on punishment and justice in the Netherlands radically changed in the mid-'80s. Where previously, under the leadership of the Rotterdam legal scholar Louk Hulsman, there was a lively public debate about which forms of justice constructively assist society, strict prison sentences and zero tolerance became the undisputed norm. Glas reconstructed a 1:1 mock-up of a cell for the Schiegevangenis, serving as a film set for a meeting between a former inmate and the architect. For a new video work, experienced individuals together present a text in which Louk Hulsman calls for the abolition of the criminal justice system. During the rehearsal of the text, discussions arise with law students about the value of Hulsman's proposal in a time when hardness is consistently considered as effectiveness.

Curator: Anke Bangma