Blog

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.

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 institutions' work. The abandoned rooms of the Cmurek Castle have become a space for remembering, testifying 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.

On the occasion of the International Conference "ALPS ADRIA DANUBE NETWORK FOR DISINSTITUTIONALISATION", which took place on 10-11 June 2021 at the Museum of Madness in Trate, we have published the Proceedings of the abstracts [in Slovenian] prepared by experts, scholars, researchers, users with experience of the institution and people from the community. The conference took place at the Cmurek Castle in Trate, the international part has moved to the online platform.

The International Conference of the Alps Adria Danube Network for Deinstitutionalisation will take place at Cmurek Castle from 10 to 16 June 2021.

The detailed conference programme and recommendations related to the COVID-19 pandemic can be found below.

The programme in Slovenian is available here

Program in English is available here

We have organised an expert forum on the role of NGOs in the implementation of deinstitutionalisation and the realisation of human rights.