ABSTRACT
Asylums have left behind residues and remnants creating complex palimpsests of traces that today coalesce, and sometimes conflict, in the contemporary landscape of the heritage of mental health. This chapter focuses on this heritage, shedding light on the convergence and interaction between the distinct histories of mental asylums and museums, resulting in the emergence of ‘mind museums'. It provides a broad overview of mind museums, tracing their evolution from 19th-century asylum collecting practices to early memorialisation efforts spurred by the deinstitutionalisation movement, and finally to their more recent development. Through critical examination of selected European examples, including the Museo Laboratorio della Mente in Rome and the Bethlem Museum of the Mind in London, among others, the chapter employs a museographical approach and draws on theories from museum studies to comprehensively analyse these museums. Its objective is not only to describe the nature of mind museums, but also to unravel their purpose and impact, laying the groundwork for further exploration of their effects, which is discussed in the following conclusive chapter.
