This was Culture & Mental Health, International Conference

A real success! This would be the best word to describe the International Conference Culture and Mental Health held in Museum Dr. Guislain on November 24 and 25. This conference was the result of a fine collaboration between Museum Dr. Guislain and Iedereen Leest.

About 150 professionals from 9 countries, from the sphere of public health and care and also academics, participated in a two-days scientific event full of keynotes, thematic sessions and workshops. The program presented a beautiful mix of research, practice and policy. This created moments of interesting and exceptional scientific sharing leading to a lot of inspiring insights.

An international conference is in the first place the sharing of knowledge and ideas and the search for solutions to collective challenges together with foreign colleagues. It is a benefit to learn about what happens in other countries and to learn about the way these insights come to Flanders and vice versa. This is also the viewpoint of Bart Marius, artistic director of Museum Dr. Guislain,  at the closing section of the conference: “ ‘connecting’ seemed to be the most important and maybe the most heard word last couple of days. Connecting between people, connecting of people with materials, objects and archives, connecting stories and also connecting people and participants with their own thoughts and mind.”

We want to share as much as possible all aspects of the conference. Soon you will find on this website and the one of Iedereen Leest the presentations of the speakers. For the moment you can already appreciate images of the atmosphere of this unique conference.

Yet there is still a souvenir of the conference. Till 30 March you can visit Connected Material, an exhibition which celebrates more ways of collective constructing and which is a realization of Dr. Claire Wellesley-Smith as part of the conference.