French Embassy Hosts Exhibit Featuring Former Death Row Prisoners’ Artwork to Raise Awareness

On October 10, 2023, the Embassy of France in Washington, D.C. will host open­ing night of ​‘C’est la vie? Restoring Awareness on Capital Punishment through Art,’ in con­junc­tion with sev­er­al oth­er mem­bers of the European Union. The event ​“will fea­ture the work of death row inmates, and some of whose sen­tences have been over­turned, and a dis­cus­sion on the influ­ence that art has had on their lives.” With the European Union Delegation, Witness to Innocence, and Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort, the French Embassy, along with the embassies of Spain, Portugal, Italy, Austria, and the Netherlands will pub­licly dis­play repro­duc­tions of art­work cre­at­ed by pris­on­ers on death row in streetside exhibitions.

Artwork from Ndume Olatushani, a for­mer Tennessee death row pris­on­er ​“who found peace and free­dom in paint­ing dur­ing his two decades on death row,” will be fea­tured at the event. There will also be per­for­mances from musi­cal groups as well as a live read­ing from Marc Asniri’s Final Words, an explo­ration of a Texas prisoner’s last words before his execution.