Now let's take a look at an unusual and surprising art exhibition in New York. All the works come from detainees at Guantanamo Bay, the US military prison in Cuba, where suspected jihadists, swept up by American forces in Afghanistan after 911, have been locked up. The John Jay College of Criminal Justice is offering art lovers a chance to examine the works of eight presumed jihadists now or once held at the detention center.

A symbol of freedom, painted from behind bars. This exhibition in New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice showcases artwork by inmates of the infamous US military prison at Guantanamo Bay. Among them, only one has been formally charged, Ammar al-Baluchi, an alleged co-conspirator of the 911 attacks.

ERIN THOMPSON CO-CURATOR OF "ODE TO THE SEA" "This art is not here to glorify him as an artist, it's here so we can learn about his experience, his life. What he's shown here is what it looks like when he closes his eyes when he has an experience of vertigo, which he says is the result of torture at the hands of the CIA."

The idea behind the project was born when lawyer Beth Jacob first started bringing art back from Guantanamo in 2016, after a long and strict screening process. Here in New York, the works' artistic value was confirmed, and the exhibition now includes works from 8 inmates - like these ship models made of cardboard, prayer cap threads and scraps found in prison.

BETH JACOB LAWYER FOR GUANTANAMO INMATES "These are men who have been held for 15 years and more without trial, without charges, who are never going to be tried, never going to have charges, and what they hope by this is that people will see them not as the worst of the worst, but as people, like you and I, as humans."

The prison was opened by the Bush administration in 2002, to detain those arrested in the wake of 911. Some 800 suspected Jihadists have been held there over the years, while controversies over allegations of torture and abuse made headlines. Shortly after the exhibition started, the Pentagon announced the suspension of its policy allowing art to leave Guantanamo.

RAMZI KASSEM LAW PROFESSOR AND LAWYER FOR GUANTANAMO INMATES "This is a way that the prisoners are expressing themselves that escapes the government's control, that the government did not expect, did not see coming and it runs immediately counter to the narrative that justifies, not just Guantanamo, but the entire War on Terror."

Barack Obama failed to close down Guantanamo during his two terms as President - and Donald Trump has shown no interest in doing so. Today, only 41 inmates are still held there. The Pentagon says their art classes, which date back to 2009, will continue. But whatever pieces are created in prison are US government property - and will no longer be seen outside its walls.