“Humanity Unchained!” is the brainchild of escape artist/restraint and torture device collector and historian Steve Santini. For over 30 years Santini has been a professional escape artist and his unusual occupation caused him to frequently come into contact with numerous and diverse mechanisms of restraint and punishment. In time he came to collect such articles and he became a world class expert on the history and background of these items. He has lent his historical expertise to numerous collectors, museums, and auction houses worldwide that specialize in such devices and he has also authored numerous articles on them and one published book titled, “Devices of Human Restraint.”

Santini has also invented devices to improve the security of existing police and prison restraints and has been called, “The World’s Most Extreme Escape Artist” by the legendary Ripley’s Believe it or Not! In 2008 Steve Santini began to exhibit parts of his collection at numerous museums including, “The National Museum of Crime and Punishment” in Washington, D.C., and it was at this time he began to devise a way in which the objects in his collection, some with admittedly sinister past histories, could be used in a productive and provocative way to call attention to human rights abuses.

“Humanity Unchained!” is the end results of these efforts and while Santini acknowledges that there will always be a need for restraints to contain those who would pose a danger to themselves and others he is also painfully aware of how such devices have been used and abused throughout history to commit crimes against humanity. Steve Santini strongly feels that such abuses must come to an end if civilization hopes to leave a kinder and gentler world for our children and those that will follow them for generations to come.