23 Lug “White Torture – underground poetry” – Moka interviews Sakharov Prize laureate Lorent Saleh

In the framework of our campaign “Human Rights Through Art” and the series dedicated to freedom from torture, we’ve interviewed Lorent Saleh, Venezuelan human rights defender & 2017 Sakharov Prize laureate, to find out more about the making of his theatrical performance “White Torture – underground poetry”. 

In 2014, Lorent Saleh was arrested after he began an international campaign to denounce human rights violations during anti-government protests in Venezuela. 

Due to his human rights activism, he was imprisoned for 4 years, 2 months and 7 days spending more than 2 in isolation in Venezuelan secret service prison “La Tumba” located in Caracas, five floors underground. 

In 2017, Lorent and the Venezuelan democratic opposition were awarded the Sakharov Prize Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament. 

His performance “White Torture – Underground poetry” takes us into the intimate soliloquy of a political prisoner in isolation who faces invisible tortures. The element of invisibility is central in contemporary forms of torture because it leaves no marks on the body but acts on the senses, on the perception of time and the psychological vulnerability of the detainee, but is no less devastating for this. 

We’ve asked Lorent when was the exact moment he began to feel the need to translate this period of his life into an artistic experience and share it with the public, and how he interpreted, staged and transmitted this feature of invisibility to the audience through his theatre performance. 

Check our YouTube to watch the full interview

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