Madness deranges, throws us off
balance, and makes us lose our footing. Yet some writers claim that
madness is an enlargement of normality. But how can that which we cannot
control belong to 'normality'? And what is normality?


For more
than 30 years, the permanent display on psychiatry has been the very
heart of the Museum Dr. Guislain in Ghent. The history of psychiatry is
the inspiration for new thematic exhibitions every year, in which the
museum seeks to dislodge entrenched views and deep-rooted stigmas and
reframe them in the context of today. In October 2019, this permanent
display received a make-over and has been presented under the title
'Unhinged', in which the Museum Dr. Guislain offers a fresh look at its
own history as a museum.


The richly illustrated publication
explores the boundaries of the traditional and goes in search of the
sane in the insane. It provides an overview of psychiatry on the basis
of five contemporary themes that enter into dialogue with each other:
'power and powerlessness', 'body and mind', 'architecture',
'classification' and 'imagination'. Historical documents are also put
side by side with contemporary art, creating a dynamic interpretation.


This
new approach reflects today's 'crazy' society, in which, happily,
increasing attention is being paid to psychological vulnerability, but
in which mental health care is also facing new challenges more than
ever.