In the context of Mental Health Month, the EUI Library, in partnership with La Tinaia - an artistic rehabilitation centre of expressive activities - is hosting an art exhibition titled, Others Watching 2nd edition, Identity and Diversity, taking place until 9 June 2023. The exhibition is inspired by a previous exhibition of the same name, held at the EUI Library in 2005. The aim of the event is to raise awareness of mental health and the Library's commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusiveness.
As part of the exhibition, the EUI Library will host a roundtable discussion to discuss the highlights of the exhibition and explore the links between mental health and the arts. The roundtable will conclude with a guided meditation designed to help one appreciate one of the works of art from the exhibition. After the roundtable, attendees are invited to visit Others Watching 2nd edition, Identity and Diversity, presented on the Garden floor, EUI Library.
The roundtable discussion can be joined either in person, at the EUI's Sala del Capitolo, or online via Zoom.
Background to the exhibition
La Tinaia was founded in February 1975, in a farmhouse inside the grounds of the former psychiatric hospital of Florence. It broke away from the asylum's repressive approach by offering patients a space for free creative activity. At the end of the 1990s, La Tinaia became part of the rehabilitation services offered by the Mental Health Service of District 2, Florence. The studio is managed by the Cooperativa di Vittorio, which supports patients in expressing themselves creatively. Since 2002, La Nuova Tinaia Association has supplemented therapeutic rehabilitation activities through specific projects that promote, document, and manage the artistic heritage collection.
The exhibition hosted at the EUI's Library garden, includes 14 paintings on canvas and felt-tip pen drawings by six artists. In contrast to conventional artistic practice, the works exhibited arise not out of a specific intention to "do art", but of their creators' need to communicate ideas and emotions associated with dramatic personal experiences.
In 2005, Maria Azzola wrote "The theme of the exhibition is focused around two main key concepts. Others Watching alludes to the creative vision peculiar to these artists, mirroring their own inner life. The concepts of identity and delivery indicate the communicative intention of the various artists who, in order to rediscover their own identity, establish a dialogue with themselves and/or the 'world' by using means of expression relating to the sphere of language, poetry, and music".
Photo credit: Guido Boni, Untitled, 1984, acrylic on canvas, 150 x 230 cm