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This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

EV0139

Exploring the relationship between art and psychiatry: Two Portuguese psychiatric hospitals from the 19th century to the present

EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ART AND PSYCHIATRY: THE CASE OF TWO PORTUGUESE PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALS, FROM THE 19TH CENTURY TO THE PRESENT

The archives of two psychiatric hospitals in Lisbon document the transformation of patients' artistic production from material examined for diagnostic purposes into a therapeutic, rehabilitative, and communicative practice today.

The study aimed to explore the intersection of art and psychiatry by presenting the past and present of two Portuguese psychiatric hospitals that operated in Lisbon during the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries: Miguel Bombarda Hospital, which closed in 2012, and Júlio de Matos Hospital. The method consisted of a historical documentary review based on hospital archives, catalogues, and collections containing hundreds of patient artworks. According to the timeline, Rilhafoles Hospital (later Miguel Bombarda) opened in 1848; in 1894, Professor Bombarda established one of the world's first collections of patient paintings, drawings, and writings for clinical purposes, and this collection continued to grow until 2012. In 1900, Bombarda published his article 'Sanat ve Akıl Hastaneleri' (Art and Psychiatric Hospitals), while the writer and art critic Júlio Dantas published his book 'Rilhafolles'ten Resimler ve Şairler' (Pictures and Poets from Rilhafolles); in 1942, Júlio de Matos Hospital opened and began offering occupational therapy, a groundbreaking treatment at the time. In 1949, the first records of patient drawings were kept at this hospital; in 1959, a space opened where patients' artworks were exhibited and sold; in 1962, the Occupational Therapy Department was established; and in 1963, the First Exhibition of Psychopathological Visual Arts was held at Miguel Bombarda Hospital. Today, Júlio de Matos Hospital has an occupational therapy unit offering ceramics, painting and drawing, textiles, and carpentry activities, alongside a collaboration with P28 (Association for Creative and Artistic Development), which provides art facilitators and a contemporary art gallery within the hospital. The discussion identifies three principal benefits of artistic production for people experiencing mental illness: therapeutic benefits through alleviating suffering, rehabilitative benefits through restoring functioning, and communicative benefits through enabling self-expression. However, it notes that the available records contain no information on the actual impact of these initiatives on patients' lives and that this impact should be investigated in future research.

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