The Dr. Guislain Museum is, as a museum on psychiatry, a place where past and present meet. The human psyche has always been a source of fascination. But the knowledge we have now still goes hand in hand with mystery. A lot of questions remain unanswered, theories fade, but sometimes also reappear. The Dr. Guislain Museum is a lieu de mémoire and a laboratory, a museum ‘in psychiatry’ where experiment is key, where issues on metal wellbeing and illness are questioned and the complexity of the human psyche is revealed through testimonies, documents and records, art and photography.
Author Erwin Mortier returns to his former workplace after 30 years and once again immerses himself in the storerooms of the Dr. Guislain Museum. “For more than 150 years, Ghent’s ‘Hospice Guislain’ has offered shelter, refuge and care for the spirit. For nearly 40 years, it has also housed a museum that preserves an extensive collection of historical testimonies and continues to uncover new stories.”
© Mirjam Devriendt
© Mirjam Devriendt
