Celica

You know how there are some things that are both wonderful and terrible at the same time?

Like an erupting volcano: A stunning display of crimson and gold fireworks. A destructive force that obliterates land and people.

Celica is like that. Celica is a trendy, arty hostel. That used to be a prison. On the one hand, how wonderful to repurpose this grim building with its grim history. On the other hand, how borderline despicable to market it as “spend the night behind bars!” to globe-trotting, privileged millennials. Because, you know, millions of unprivileged people spend thousands of nights behind bars in these cells.

A bit of history: In 1882 the Austro-Hungarian Army built a military barracks just outside the old city of Ljubljana (the capital of today’s Slovenia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, later subsumed in Yugoslavia). One of the buildings in the barracks was a prison. It operated as such for more than 100 years.

Fast-forward to 1991 when Slovenia declares its independence from Yugoslavia. The army departs. The barracks are abandoned. Thus follows a battle (mostly bureaucratic, but occasionally more than that) between the city of Ljubljana and a group of artists and activists who want to transform the barracks into a cultural center. At one point, the activists illegally occupy the barracks buildings. At one point the city switches off the electricity and water supply to the area. (If you know anything about the history of Copenhagen’s Christiana, this will sound familiar.)

The activists go forth anyway. More than 80 local and international artists defy the authorities and involve themselves in the project, transforming the cells into what you see here. Finally, the city grants approval, and the hostel opens in 2003.

What I hope is that the hipster backpackers who pay up to 35 euro (free WiFi) to sleep in an upscale prison cell honor the history of that place, understand their privilege and maybe, even, work for a more humane system of punishment. What I hope is that they think the experience of Celica is both wonderful and terrible.

How do people who live behind bars actually live, day to day? Not the Hollywood version. Shouldn’t we know how they live when we sentence them for years, decades, or life? I end this post with a shout-out for my new book, A Grip of Time: When prison is your life. I hope you’ll read it.