From institutions to people
At the Museum of Madness, we make the domestic and foreign public aware that Slovenia is one of the most institutionalized countries in the world and that the human rights of people living in institutions are violated. Experience shows that people are poorly informed about this systemic problem and that despite the warnings of the experts there is no political will to carry out the process of deinstitutionalisation, which began and stopped with the closure of the State Asylum for the Mentally and Neurologically Ill in Trate.
The main goal of the project is to raise awareness among young people about human rights violations in institutions in Slovenia and for social change in the direction of eliminating institutions and implementing social care services in the community, hence the title of the project From Institutions to People. During the time of the project we will develop educational tools and programs in cooperation with selected partners, the Museum of National Liberation from Maribor and the Hartheim Castle Learning and Memorial Site from Austria. These are museums that specialize in presenting difficult heritage and human rights and they offer a rich pedagogical program for young people. In educational tools we will include the testimonies of people who lived in institutions or still live in them today. These testimonies will contribute to strengthening the voice of a vulnerable group, which is marginalized, inaudible and invisible. We will be assisted by our partner Zavod Franko Institute, whose mission is to provide support to people with long-term mental health problems in a way that allows them to live in the community, outside of the institutions.
The goal is to include students and pedagogues in the programs during the 2-year project and to evaluate the change after the implementation of the programs.
Contact person: dr. Sonja Bezjak
Partners: Franko Institute, National Liberation Museum Maribor
Participating organization: Lern- und Gedenkort Schloss Hartheim, Österreich
Project duration: 1. 10. 2020 to 31. 3. 2023
Financier: Active Citizens Fund in Slovenia (prek finančnih mehanizmov EEA and Norway)
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