“A Dream of a Ball Gown”

28. August 2025 - 22. February 2026

Zeichnung auf einem EEG-Diagramm mit mehreren surreal wirkenden Gesichtern, die aus den Zacken der Hirnstromkurven zu wachsen scheinen. Die Gesichter wirken träumerisch, manche mit geschlossenen Augen, andere starren direkt nach vorn. Schwarze Tuschelinien und blaue EEG-Linien verschmelzen miteinander und erzeugen eine gespenstische, traumhafte Atmosphär

“A dream of a ball gown” is the first public exhibition of artistic works from the UPK Basel’s picture storage. The exhibition extends the Hidden Treasures from Swiss Psychiatric Clinics series, which draws attention to collections and artistic convolutes that are unknown to the public.

Following its presentation at the University Psychiatric Clinics (UPK) Basel between December 2024 and March 2025, the exhibition can now be seen at the open art museum, the center for Swiss Outsider Art, Art Brut and Naive Art – supplemented by additional works that provide a deeper insight into the collection. The aim is also to open up new perspectives on healing art and creative ways of promoting mental health.

Most of the works from the UPK Basel picture library were created by patients on site between 1960 and 1990. On the one hand, they reflect society and the understanding of psychiatry and mental health at the time. On the other hand, they are direct testimonies to an individual and often intensive examination of personal life motifs and the constant struggle for the right form and the right material.

The works on display act as social seismographs. They reflect the perception of the world at different times in a personal, direct way. The works tell of the search for stability, for meaning – and of the approach to what is, as well as to what is lost or hidden and longed for.

The exhibition “A dream of a ball gown” with works from the picture collection of the University Psychiatric Clinics (UPK) Basel will be complemented by individual works from the museum’s own collection, which were also created in Basel. A parallel solo exhibition will be dedicated to the important writer and visual artist Adelheid Duvanel (1936-1996) from November 9, 2025.

Opening

On August 27 from 6.30 p.m.
The exhibition will be opened with a talk about the UPK Basel picture warehouse with Annetta Neyenhuys (qualified art therapist) and Prof. Dr. André Nienaber (Director of Nursing)