Unlock — Artistic Escapes

Art as a tool for freedom

Unlock — Artistic Escapes is a civic festival that uses art and culture to reflect on prison, freedom, and social reintegration. The event creates moments of meeting and dialogue on the themes of dignity for people involved in the penal system, engaging citizens, institutions, and the volunteer world in an open and participatory discussion.

Four days of meetings and culture

From June 3 to 6, 2026, the festival offers seventeen events between Spazio Daste (Via Daste e Spalenga 13, Bergamo) and the Areté Social Cooperative (Via Imotorre 28, Torre Boldone). For four days, the venues will host conferences, performances, concerts, open-air cinema, and participatory moments open to the public.

The themes of 2026

Among the events, three conferences dedicated to work as a tool for reintegration, the impact that a penal measure can have on family and affective relationships, and the theme of parenting within the prison system. The festival opens on Wednesday, June 3, with the conference "Companies that choose. People who start over", dedicated to work as the primary lever for reintegration.

A Light on Prison

The opening evening continues in the garden of the Areté cooperative with "A Light on Prison": a public dinner for four hundred guests, a garden lit by many candles, a grand piano in the center, and a menu made with products from the prison economy of Bergamo and other Italian prisons. Promoted by a network of over 24 third-sector organizations, public bodies, and institutions, Unlock is a precious opportunity for the Orobic capital to look at prison with a different perspective, made of culture and hope.