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