Blog

Simon Chang is a photographer who started photographing patients in psychiatric institutions in 2004 in Prague, where he photographed the Bohnice institution for several years. Between 2018 and 2019, he photographed the Hawler Psychiatric Hospital in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, whose cells are mainly filled with patients suffering from the effects of the recent war devastation. This time, the series of photographs is presented in Cmurek Castle, which operated as a State Asylum for the Mentally and Neurologically Ill between 1956 and 2004.

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Museum of Madness, we hosted two events on June 24, 2023 at Cmurek Castle in Trate. The talks aimed at reflecting on the challenges and importance of preserving and revitalizing cultural heritage. Recordings of the talks can now be viewed on our YouTube channel.

Presentation of the Council of Europe Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society (Faro Convention)
 

You are kindly invited to attend the two-day art embroidery workshop at the Museum of Madness Trate on Monday and Tuesday, 18 and 19 September, under the guidance of Saša Bezjak, painter, pedagogue and all-round artist. The workshop is organised in the framework of the European project EMPACT. In EMPACT we’ve set out to tackle the themes of empathy and sustainability and the relationship between them under the slogan "The art of thinking like a mountain".

The first volume of the Museum of Madness is here, with academic and professional articles and reflections on what is still missing in the community so that we can talk about solidarity, about community life and so that people who live in institutions because they are disabled and disadvantaged can return from there, and so that others who are still living at home do not have to go there.

The call for proposals attracted seven submissions from students themselves, their supervisors and mentors, or other lecturers. It is gratifying to note that among the submissions are final theses by students from different disciplines, from the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Faculty of Law of the University of Maribor, as well as from the Faculty of Social Work, the Faculty of Pedagogy and the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ljubljana. This time, there was no candidate for the best doctoral thesis.
 

On this year's Day for the Mura, we will meet at 15:00 on the forest path by the Cmurek Bridge and take a guided walk into the "European Amazon".

The Mura River, with its groundwater recharging the water table, has allowed people to settle in these places. The river provides habitat for many species of flora and fauna. Its importance has been recognised by the international organisation UNESCO, which has awarded the Mura basin, together with the Drava and Danube rivers, the title of a 5-country biosphere site, increasingly recognised as "Europe's Amazon".

It's been an incredible seven years since we experienced an extraordinary time of open borders in Styria. Some of us arrived in Radgona or Šentilj after a long flight, others were there with warm tea, soup and baby diapers to humanely support people on their way. Many life paths crossed then, many of us stayed connected.

We want to remember, to preserve and to continue to weave human ties across borders. All of you who have a special connection to this time of "open borders" are cordially invited to a gathering and a film evening!

On 10 September 2022, we will be opening a new permanent exhibition on the history of life and work in the former mental and nervous institution at Trate. The new exhibition gives a voice to the former workers, the people who survived the institution at Trate and their relatives who came to Trate to see their loved ones. It offers a glimpse into a world that is largely unknown to most of us, and calls on us to work together to develop services in the community, in the home, where people usually live, or at home.

In the ten years of the Museum of Madness, cultural-artistic interventions have proven to be an important complement to the historical record of the institution's work. The abandoned institutional rooms of Cmurek Castle have become a space for remembering, witnessing and discussing the social construction of madness and mental health.

At the Museum of Madness, we are working to raise awareness about the need for deinstitutionalisation in Slovenia, the abolition of long-term care institutions where people with disabilities are placed, and the development of community-based services that will enable people with disabilities to live in the community and integrate into society. These rights are guaranteed by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Slovenia ratified in 2008.