PsycArt – the aims

• To stimulate,      encourage and appreciate all the artistic expressions produced by artists      suffering from a neurological or psychiatric condition;
• To establish a network      of professionals running creative workshops in psychiatric and      neurological cares institutions;
• By means of artistic      expression, to improve the way society views people affected by      psychiatric and neurological disorders;
• To encourage the study      of the relationship between artistic expression and psychiatric and      neurological disorders.

PsycArt – the vision

PsycArt places the artist at the heart of the process

Here is where the very essence of PsycArt is to be found: to show the artist, not the patient. This means that the artistic quality of the work is of crucial importance, as it must show its creator in a different light. Now he or she has a different status, even if only temporarily: that of an artist.

Even so, it must always be borne in mind that, despite the effort expended over many years to rehabilitate these unconventional artists, the works they produce still remain somewhat unconventional.

In one sense, this is easy to understand. Swamped as we are by the ghastly cases which find their way into the mass media, little by little we tend to build up a false picture of what is meant by mental illness (and psychosis in particular). So it is comforting to be able to understand the difference. Madness is still a taboo subject, or at least a disturbing one. And pointing the finger is one way to feel comfortable on our side of the fence. But no human being can ever be reduced to a mere diagnosis. We have to try to escape from the world of the cliché and seek the truth.