Inmates in a Buenos Aires prison painted a huge mural of Lionel Messi with the World Cup: ‘We’d love to hear from you’

More than a month and a half after the consecration of Argentina national team inside Qatar World Cup 2022, the festivities are still repeated in all corners of the country, even in prisons. Without going any further, a group of inmates painted a giant wall of Lionel Messi kiss the World Cup in courtyard of a prison in Buenos Aires.

Specifically, the inmates of Unit 9, located in the silver and employees of the Penitentiary Service of the province of Buenos Aires, have created a mural of 50 square meters (10 long by 5 high) on one of the walls of pavilion 12.

“When Argentina lost their first match against Saudi Arabia, I said, almost jokingly, that if we became champions, I would draw Messi in the courtyard. And here I am, because he is everything to me,” Jorge said. known as “El Uncle”, one of the interns who did the design.

Another of those who had a great participation in the work is Tito León, a fanatical fan of Chacarita who took care of adding color to the drawing.

“After sketching some drawings on paper, Jorge, one of the prisoners, traced the general lines of the drawing, freehand, on the wall that they observe every day behind bars or from the prison courtyard”, specifies the Service. .

Even knowing that it is “extremely difficult”, the authors do not lose hope that the image will go viral and reach the eyes of the Argentine captain. “My skin would break from so much emotion and we would like your greetings. Really, it would be something sublime, that we will never forget, “said Tito León. For his part, Jorge was more direct:” I’m dying.

The making of the mural, which was called “Messi’s art“It took seven days of work and he was accompanied by the director of Unit 9, Pablo Jotayan, the deputy directors, Cristian Marchesi, Christian Luján and Antonio Delvalle, and the head of the Penitentiary, Leandro Navarro.

With the support of the Sport area, headed by Juan Pablo Buss, of the Directorate of Education and Non-Formal Work of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights of the province of Buenos Aires, artistic initiatives are constantly promoted in the prisons of Buenos Aires with the objective of strengthening and guaranteeing the right to culture of persons deprived of their liberty.

On this issue, the director of Culture and Sports of the Sub-Directorate General of Education of the Penitentiary Service of Buenos Aires, Javier Lanchas, said: “Art strengthens both individual and collective growth, becoming a powerful tool of social transformation that it guarantees knowledge, values ​​and interests that will be very useful for those who leave the prison system”.