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)
Wine evening at Cmurek Castle, 7. September 2024
We invite you to Cmurek Castle for an unforgettable late summer evening. In the shelter of the castle walls, in one of the most beautiful Renaissance courtyards in Slovenia, a tasting of excellent wines from selected winemakers of Štajerska region will take place. We will enrich the event with an interesting cultural program.
Simon Chang exhibition opening
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.
Revitalisation of Difficult Cultural Heritage (video)
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.
EMPACT Workshop / Empathy for Nature
You are kindly invited to attend the two-day art embroidery workshop at the Museum of Madness Trate on Monday and Tues