Print

Print


Dear Subscribers

A new book may be of interest!

*Exhibiting Madness,* edited by Catharine Coleborne and Dolly MacKinnon

http://www.taylorandfrancis.com/books/details/9780415880923/

While much has been written on the history of psychiatry, remarkably little
has been written about psychiatric collections or curating. *Exhibiting
Madness in Museums* offers a comparative history of independent and
institutional collections of psychiatric objects in Australia, New Zealand,
Canada and the United Kingdom. Leading scholars in the field investigate
collectors, collections, their display, and the reactions to exhibitions of
the history of insanity. Linked to the study of medical museums this work
broadens the study of the history of psychiatry by investigating the
significance and importance of the role of twentieth-century psychiatric
communities in the preservation, interpretation and representation of the
history of mental health through the practice of collecting. In remembering
the asylum and its different communities in the twentieth century,
individuals who lived and worked inside an institution have struggled to
preserve the physical character of their world. This collection of essays
considers the way that collections of objects from the former psychiatric
institution have played a role in constructions of its history. It
historicises the very act of collecting, and also examines ethical problems
and practices which arise from these activities for curators and
exhibitions.

thank you - just thought people might like to know about this
Cathy