Asylum: Mental Health and Segregation Explored in Cagliari Exhibition

The exhibition 'Asylum' at EXMA in Cagliari examines mental disorders and the segregation of psychiatric patients through paintings, photographs, installations, and videos. The journey begins with an old photo album from Villa Clara, a mental hospital in Cagliari that closed in 1998. The installation recreates the emotions tied to mental illness, featuring a corridor with neon lights designed to evoke a psychiatric ward. The show opens with a 1967 piece from Carol Rama's 'Bricolage' series, where unsettling doll eyes emerge from the surface. Works are displayed on both sides of a barred barrier, creating an unusual dialogue between accessible and inaccessible areas. Artists include Massimiliano Picconi (with 'Slice of Life', 2017), Andrea Guerzoni, Adriano Annino, Silvia Mei, Daniele Santagiuliana, Sara Renzetti and Antonello Serra (as SANTISSIMI), and Barbara La Ragione. Santagiuliana's triptych features monstrous homunculi representing hallucinations and obsessions. SANTISSIMI created a large silicone sculpture symbolizing the marginalization of the mentally ill. La Ragione's 'Pu-Pazzi' depicts marionettes falling from the sky, invisible to the 'normal'. The bars serve as a metaphor for distance and indifference, prompting reflection on societal isolation of the misunderstood.