Juno Wela
Creating stories on skin and paper.
Paris / Zurich
Email: juno.wela@posteo.net
Instagram: @juno.wela
Paris / Zurich
Email: juno.wela@posteo.net
Instagram: @juno.wela
Exhibition - May 2025
Performance, Panel, and Pigment on our hands
Time and Place: 17.05.2025 | 18.00 – 22.00 | Lokremise St. Gallen
Artworks: Living Museum collective pōk
Curation: Juno Wela
What does it mean when great art is created but remains limited to the realm of what is often referred to as "outsider" art? How does the definition of art change depending on whether it is created in or outside a psychiatric institution? More and more I wonder what the difference between "professional" and "therapeutic" art is supposed to be, and how its perception is shaped by the stigma that surrounds mental health…
If you had asked me in 2019 if I knew what a "psychiatric creative space" is, my only answer would have been a look of bewildering on my face. Back then, in my first year of studying art history, a friend of mine heard about an atelier looking for students to give guided tours in its halls. After signing up, I was first introduced to the concept of a creative space as part of the local psychiatry's ateliers. But as I soon discovered, doing guided art tours in this setting forced me to ask the question "How are art and mental health/illness connected?" I started interviewing a variety of people working in the field of art therapy; People who have spent time in psychiatric institutions, Artists, Therapists, Educators, and Mental Health Activists. At first, the interviews were serving the purpose gathering information about artworks. What grew out of it was a rising curiosity for the health benefits of making art. No wonder that in 2022, when a young artist collective called pōk* formed in the context of the Living Museum Wil, I was eager to help putting together a Vernissage for their first public exhibition. In preparation for this exhibition, new interviews brought more insight - and more questions to my understanding of art therapy. At a certain point we realised in the organisation committee that the stories and perspectives from these interviews belonged on stage. Hence we decided to add a Panel discussion to the Vernissage, giving voice to the points of view from artists, activists, and health professionals. The considerable resonance of our event was not only a sign of encouragement but also the incentive for a second exhibition with more perspectives from this field. Now, in May 2025, pōk opens its doors for the second time – and once more, I will have the pleasure of interviewing three fascinating guests on stage.
Exhibition image from the pōk Vernissage 2022
Since first learning about the questionable nature of terms such as art brut or outsider art, I have been in search of an answer to the question "What is the relationship between art and mental health". The more I learn, the more I realise that answers to these questions are just as diverse as the opinions about art itself. In that sense, the title of the upcoming Vernissage could not be more fitting with its heading "Frage der Perspektive" (A Question of Perspective). Displaying not only the artworks of the in-house collective pōk but also a variety of works from the International Living Museum Society, the exhibition will encompass more than a dozen ateliers across eight different countries. On the 17th of May, the event can be accessed for free, at 18h at the cultural center Lokremise St. Gallen. The anonymous artist collective invites visitors to dive into a multisensory experience in the world of mental health and creativity. However, the description "art exhibition" should not mislead you into expecting a white cube show with artworks perfectly aligned on eye level. In this event, the canvases are not only to be found everywhere but on the walls, but more importantly, you'll be confronted with empty canvases upon entering. In order to discover the artworks, visitors are asked to become part of the artistic process by using the collective's special "spills" technique, which will reveal the motives.
No worries, there's no need for creative aptitude to participate in this process, all that is required is an openness to get your hands dirty with red ochre clay paste. With it, hidden motives will slowly emerge over time. The artworks will then come to life through playful interaction. The Vernissage also involves dance performance of the Swiss dance group "Les Papillons", a breathtaking play between expression and anonymity. The dancers translate the exhibition's topic into movement, in relation to the many perspectives surrounding art and mental health.
The synergistic approach is a direct result of pōk's determined artistic vision to visualise a multitude of perspectives, effectively blurring the lines between artists and visitors. Besides putting an innovative twist on the conventional Vernissage, the co-created "Spills" allows for conversations, exchanges, and new perspectives to be shared.
And this is where I come back to the interviews: In order to illustrate the many aspects involved in the world of art in psychiatric settings, I'll have the pleasure of interviewing three individuals related to the field: Juliane Pfeiffer a prospective art therapist, Sandra Winiger, an independent lecturer for art education and curator of mediation, Nici, an artist at Living Museum Wil and the pōk collective. In a dialogue about the relationship between art and mental health, I hope to find more insight into art within the psychiatric institutions and outside. Following the panel's title Care & Creativity: Mentale Gesundheit an der Schnittstelle von Kunst und Institution" (Care & Creativity: Mental Health at the Intersection of Art and Institution), we'll add to the variety of viewpoints on the topic.
"Frage der Perspektive" raises questions not only about but about your relationship to mental health. By engaging with the many perspectives surrounding art and mental health, visitors are invited to see, feel, and think their way through this multisensory vernissage, with performances, panels, and pigments on your hands.
Exhibition image from the pōk Vernissage 2022
*About pōk
The artists from the Living Museum Collective pōk bring together a group of Switzerland-based artists with psychiatric experience. The collective was formed in early 2022 within the framework of Living Museum Wil, an art space nationally and internationally known in the field of art therapy. Since its founding, the collective has focused on creating collaborative artistic projects in public spaces following a mission: to produce participatory and inclusive art to contribute to social inconclusion in the spirit of the international Living Museum movement. This mission is most cogently reflected in the collective assembly, as it is made up of artists with psychiatric experience as well as Living Museum staff members of past and present. Within this setting, anonymity is a key element of pōks artistic vision, as its deliberate use not only conceals identity but simultaneously empathizes the equal value of all contributors. It is a means to dissolve conventional boundaries between roles of ascribed identity within the creative spaces. To not only symbolically but most explicitly conceal this different identity, the pōk characters all wear silver masks which make it impossible to recognize the face behind it. This reflective silver mask has become a signature element in performances and exhibitions, providing the safe comfort of anonymity. The mask is made out of a material that mimics the metallic shiny look of aluminum so that it catches the reflections of the world around it. Whoever stands in front of a collective member will therefore see no other face than their own, reflected back on the surface of the mask.