Thursday 23 November marks the start of the Beautiful Distress Art Manifestation on Mental Illness, an initiative of the Fifth Season Foundation and the Beautiful Distress Foundation. Consisting of a two-part exhibition, a manifesto and a one-day conference, the event attempts to make mental illness visible and tangible through art while countering existing prejudices.
The Beautiful Distress Foundation wants to enhance the understanding of and compassion for those who deal with mental illness and has organized artist residencies in the mental health department of Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, New York since 2014. Beautiful Distress was inspired by a similar artist-in-residence program that the Fifth Season Foundation has organized for more than 20 years in a mental health institution in The Netherlands.
The exhibition will be held at:
- De School in Amsterdam-West (November 23 to December 23, 2017)
- Nieuw Dakota in Amsterdam-North (November 25 to January 7, 2018)