What would an ideal asylum look like? Is there such a thing as a safe place to go mad?

As part of Bedlam: the asylum and beyond, Wellcome Collection and Bethel Gallery will be discussing if there is a true alternative to asylums.

Come and discuss alternative places of safety including R D Laing’s controversial Kingsley Hall and the Belgian city of Geel’s unique model of psychiatric care.

This is a collaboration between Wellcome Collection and Bethlem Gallery in celebration of their ‘Bedlam: the asylum and beyond’ exhibition and Bethlem’s ‘Reclaiming Asylum’ exhibition.

Taking Bethlem Royal Hospital as a starting point, ‘Bedlam: the asylum and beyond’ juxtaposes historical material and medical records with individual testimonies and works by artists such as David Beales, Richard Dadd, Dora García, Eva Kotátková, Madlove: A Designer Asylum, Shana Moulton, Erica Scourti, Javier Téllez and Adolf Wölfli, whose works reflect or reimagine the institution, as both a physical and a virtual space.