Please note that this series of events has been organised by the Wellcome Library, and will take place in the Reading Room at the Wellcome Collection.
Art, Power and the Asylum: exploring the Adamson Collection
What is the value of art created in the asylum? Who does it belong to and how should it be used?
Join contributors from the fields of mental health, art, libraries and ethics for a series of intimate discussions exploring value, power and identity, and shape how the Adamson Collection is framed.
The events will taking place in the Reading Room at Wellcome Collection and are drop-in events. First-come-first-seated – places are limited.
Creative Control
Thursday 13th July, 19.00-20.00 (viewing of selected paintings, 18.00-19.00)
Who owns art created in the asylum? How should it be used, and by whom? Join David O’Flynn (Adamson Collection Trust), Niall Boyce, (The Lancet Psychiatry) and Daniel O’Connor (Wellcome Trust) to discuss the role and responsibility of the maker, the practitioner, the collector, and the public.
Naming the Unnamed
Tuesday 18th July, 15.00-16.00 (viewing of selected paintings, 14.00-15.00)
Should artists be named, or should they remain unnamed patients? Join Val Huet (BAAT), Michael Barham (Dramatherapist), Fiona Johnstone (Birkbeck) and Marie-France (ex- service user) to explore issues of sensitivity, identity and agency.
The ‘A’ Word
Thursday 20th July, 19.00-20.00 (viewing of selected paintings, 18.00-19.00)
Is work from the asylum art or medical record? What art history period does it fit into, if any? Join Beth Elliot (Bethlem Gallery), Marc Steene (Outside In) and Lamis Bayar (Dragon Café) to discuss how art from the asylum (and beyond) can be framed, and the value of terms such as Outsider Art and Art Brut.
Photography will be taking place during this event. Please speak to a member of staff for further information.
Read the Wellcome Library’s blog post about this event:
http://blog.wellcomelibrary.org/2017/06/art-from-the-asylum/
You can view the Adamson Collection online:
Mr A Moves in Mysterious Ways 