Sednaya Prison: Anatomy of a Repressive Machine

The Prisons Museum presented “Sednaya Prison: Anatomy of a Repressive Machine” at Kulturzentrum Pavillon in Hanover as part of SARAB 2026.

Dates: 4–6 Sep 2026
Venue: Kulturzentrum Pavillon · Hanover
Programme: SARAB 2026

Syria Prisons Museum →Dossier 4217 performance →Chronology →

Amer Matar guiding visitors through the Sednaya exhibition in Hanover beside a projected 3D prison reconstruction

A guided tour of the Sednaya exhibition at Kulturzentrum Pavillon in Hanover

A personal object displayed in the Sednaya exhibition in Hanover

Visitors using virtual reality during the Sednaya exhibition in Hanover

Visitors using VR and viewing display cases at the Sednaya exhibition in Hanover

Visitors exploring testimony stations and virtual reality in the Sednaya exhibition in Hanover

Visitors using headsets and VR in the Sednaya exhibition at Kulturzentrum Pavillon

A visitor experiencing the Sednaya reconstruction through virtual reality in Hanover

A Syrian military-police cap and insignia displayed among objects in the Sednaya exhibition in Hanover

About the exhibition

Bringing together architectural reconstruction, virtual reality, survivor testimony, documents, filmed investigations and personal objects, the exhibition examined how the architecture of Sednaya Prison operated as part of a wider system of isolation, surveillance, torture and systematic violence. Visitors could move through a three-dimensional reconstruction of the prison, encounter recorded testimonies and investigations, and examine archival material and objects connected to detention. The programme also included the live documentary performance “Dossier 4217”, in which Amer Matar read from his personal security dossier compiled by Syrian intelligence agencies between 2009 and 2011.