Milan Museums Launch ASBA Project to Measure Art's Health Benefits

A new experimental project called ASBA (Anxiety, Stress, Brain-friendly museum, Approach) will launch in September 2022 at two Milan civic museums: the Museo di Storia Naturale and the Galleria d'Arte Moderna. Designed and coordinated by the Centro Studi sulla Storia del Pensiero Biomedico (CESPEB) of the University of Milano-Bicocca, the interdisciplinary program aims to use museum collections to stimulate collective well-being through methods including Mindfulness, Art Therapy, Visual Thinking Strategies, the Art Up method, and a strategy combining cultural heritage and nature. Each session with volunteer groups will consist of four parts: information, experiencing exhibited objects, explanation, and a final debate. Anxiety and stress levels will be measured before and after each session using standardized tests and user-friendly tools that detect physiological indicators. Researchers from Sapienza University of Rome and the University of Milan, along with licensed therapists, will guide participants. The project will utilize specific rooms at both museums. Milan's culture councilor Tommaso Sacchi stated that the experiment will transform civic institutions into social and emotional spaces where art and science create encounters between people, cultures, and experiences.