From Psychiatric Hospital to Condominium – Urban Development and Cultural Heritage
Painting by Augusta Strömberg, patient at Ulleråker 1900-1954 / Uppsala University image bank
This project discusses how people with mental illness are remembered in post-asylum landscapes and how this shapes the construction of cultural heritage. The project examines public art, graveyards and streetnames in order to examine cultural imaginaries of mental (ill-)health and the role they play in the 'doing' of cultural heritage of psychiatric hospitals.
Details
- Period: 2020-01-01 – 2024-12-31
- Funder: Formas
About the project
This project explores the ‘doing’ of cultural heritage of psychiatric hospitals and asylums during, and after, urban development with a particular focus on the remembrance of mad people (mad has been reclaimed by mad studies as an alternative term to mental illness). ‘Doing’ refers to the idea that heritage is a cultural process and a verb that is related to human actions and agency. The project focus on Ulleråker (Uppsala) with comparison to other places. The project explores public art; street-, place- and city block names; and graveyards.
In this project we address the following questions:
- How are mad people remembered at former psychiatric hospitals and asylum sites that have been, or are currently, subject to urban development?
- What does the cultural heritage of psychiatric hospital entail of and what processes shape this cultural heritage?
- What is the role of sanism in the ‘doing’ of the cultural heritage of psychiatric hospitals and asylums?
Methodology
The objective of the project is to provide a theory-driven answer to the research questions and provide tools to work with this kind of heritage. A critical discourse analysis will be appropriated to analyze how mad people are remembered and the role that sanism plays in heritage. The method will assist in identifying the discourses and normative processes in the ‘doing’ of heritage. The material will be further discussed using Mad Studies as a theoretical approach. Mad Studies seeks to question sanist discourses with the purpose to interrupt them.
Publications, conference papers, and media
Research articles
- Mårdh, H. (2021). Konsten och kulturvården - en dialog mellan då och nu i nedlagda vårdmiljöer. Bebyggelsehistorisk tidskrift, 80: 75–79.
- Rodéhn, C. (2022). The emotional heritage of psychiatric hospital and asylum cemeteries as constructed in and through academic texts. International Journal of Heritage Studies (IJHS).
Popular science articles
Conference presentations
- Konferens 2021: Gestaltad livsmiljö och demokrati. Från psykiatriskt sjukhus till bostadsrätt
Konferensen var ett samarbete mellan Boverket, Riksantikvarieämbetet, ArkDes och Statens konstråd (14 oktober 2021).
Media
- Kulturarvsforskarens perspektiv (YouTube)
Konferensen var ett samarbete mellan Regioner, Konstfrämjandet och Statens konstråd (14 November 2019). - Ulleråker – ett svårt kulturarv (Sveriges Radio)
Tobias Svanelid reser till Ulleråker för att tillsammans med forskarna Cecilia Rodehn och Hedvig Mårdh diskutera platsens svåra kulturarv och hur man kan tänka kring bevarandet av ett historiskt minne som många velat glömma (6 jan 2018).