A new experiential exhibition “From the Inside”: will connect art and psychology | Culture

“From the Inside” will offer a thematic look at the works of Lithuanian modern and contemporary art, created from the 1960s to the present day. Visitors to the MO Museum will meet almost 200 works that will encourage you to have a dialogue with yourself and better see your thoughts and emotions.

The exhibition is a place for improving health

“From the inside” continues the purposeful activities of the MO Museum in the field of human emotional health. According to Milda Ivanauskienė, the head of MO, the extent of the damage caused by the pandemic and the anxiety caused by the war brought the topic of mental health to another level of relevance and encouraged the maturation of the idea of ​​the exhibition “From the Inside”.

Photo by Ryčis Šeskaitis/Exhibition at MO Museum

“It is an indisputable truth that every visit to a museum, exhibition or work of art works. A natural question may arise: is it necessary and possible to create an exhibition dedicated solely to emotional health? We would answer – yes, because we think that the news about the impact of art on health has reached relatively few visitors, and even those who know it may be unusual to consciously use this huge resource”, shares M. Ivanauskienė.

The curator-coordinator of the exhibition, Kamilė Jagėlienė, points out that in the last two decades there has been a significant increase in scientific research on the effects of art on health and well-being, and in recent years there has been a breakthrough in their communication.

Research findings show that visiting museums acts as a safe, reflective, anti-loneliness and happiness-enhancing activity, and engagement with the arts is associated with greater ability to cope with mental health issues in everyday life.

“We live in the age of globalization, but it is also the age of breaking social ties, individualism and loneliness. The exhibition wanted to encourage us to build a stronger connection with ourselves and the world, to discover what not only separates us, but also unites us, which is common human emotions and experiences, the search for meaning and the nurturing of hope”, emphasizes K. Jagėlienė.

Will provide useful tools for self-reflection

The exhibition is based on the personality structure model of psychiatrist, psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung and the therapeutic vision of art of philosopher, writer Alain de Botton.

“The themes of the exhibition sections bring to new life several CGJung archetypes – motifs-primary images, which lie in the collective subconscious. Jung chose the term archetype because it refers to the oldest universal images that have come from the depths of the ages and are always present. We combine this with A. de Botton’s point of view, why we need art”, says art researcher, art therapist Aldona Dapkutė.

The interdisciplinary nature of the exhibition determined its special structure. Menostudies tools will help visitors to understand the visual language, and psychology will lead to self-analysis. The psychological questions accompanying the exhibition will connect both areas – they will help maintain the direction of thinking, encourage you to open up and experience the therapeutic effect of art.

Psychotherapist Brigita Kaleckaitė, head of the Vilnius Gestalt Institute, created the exhibition together with art researchers. According to her, in this process we had to overcome a considerable challenge and balance the content of the exhibition in such a way that the educational and psychological aspects did not push art into the background.

“I’m glad that we successfully overcame this challenge, and we also didn’t stop at meditations, breathing or self-help exercises. We invite visitors to look deep into their inner selves and the collective unconscious, to explore their masks and shadows, to pay attention to symbols and dreams,” emphasizes the psychotherapist.

Art critic Deima Žuklytė-Gasperaitienė notes that if the conditions are created to look at art through the prism of psychology, viewers are given a key that allows them to read and interpret the works simply by listening to what is speaking in them personally.

“These tools will help you understand how works of art can help you develop, provide empathy, help you find answers to burning inner questions, get rid of the nagging feeling that you are alone with your problems, and so on. This is easily learned in the arts related to verbal expression – literature, cinema, theater, but it is more difficult to read visual language because there is a lack of skills,” says the curator.

It will offer a wide program of events

As usual, the new major exhibition of the MO Museum will be the starting point for the events complementing its theme, which are extremely abundant in the program this fall.

On Saturday, October 12, the exhibition will kick off with an all-day opening MOrathon. During it, the topics of emotional health will spread in various contexts, from art to anxiety, happiness, loneliness or tears in Instagram stories. Professionals from various fields and well-known faces will give presentations and participate in conversations at the marathon – from psychotherapists, sociologists, artists to satirical creators who became famous in social networks.

Saturday of the Marathon will be crowned by the performance of the artist Nancie Naive and the concert of the psychedelic rock band “Curly”.

In October, the MO Museum together with the documentary film festival “Uncomfortable Cinema” will present screenings of four films, which will be accompanied by discussions, reflections and creative workshops. In November, MO Museum visitors will have the opportunity to participate in a series of talks on psychological health topics organized by “Youth Line”.