Face to Face at the University of Dundee
Face to Face: Stories from the Asylum was an exhibition organised in a collaboration between the University of St Andrews School of History and University of Dundee Archives Services. I researched, designed and curated the exhibition and organised associated events.
The primary venue for the exhibition was the Tower Foyer Gallery, Tower Building, University of Dundee, a prime exhibition space in Dundee city centre. Face to Face displayed there from March 23rd until June 9th 2018.
The main part of the exhibition consisted of nine panels exploring the lives of patients admitted to Dundee Royal Lunatic Asylum between 1886 and 1902. Using information and photographs from their case notes, I examined the circumstances which led to their committal to the asylum, the dilemmas faced by their families, and the nature of their illness.
The full size exhibition on display at Dundee included a number of items from the University of Dundee archives, including two of the case books in which the patients’ notes were recorded, a letter from one of the patients, and a selection of material connected with the asylum. These items were kindly selected for the exhibition by the team from University of Dundee Archive Services.
The exhibition at Dundee received significant media coverage, including articles in the Dundee Courier and Dundee Evening Telegraph, and the Courier promoted the story on advertising boards across the city. I was also interviewed by Scottish Television for a news item which was broadcast in both early and evening news slots.
Researching the exhibition gave me the opportunity to explore some of the interesting and moving stories I have discovered in the course of my research, but which did not fit into the subject of my thesis. You can read my thoughts on putting the exhibition together on the University of St Andrews School of History blog and posts on this site.
The exhibition formed one strand of a wider project, Promoting Mental Health through the Lessons of History, based at the University of St Andrews. A smaller version of part of the exhibition has subsequently been displayed at other venues.
To see the exhibition in place at Dundee, click on the YouTube link (and below).
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Associated Events
Face to Face: Women and the Asylum
Monday March 12 2018
University of Dundee, D’Arcy Thompson Lecture Theatre, Tower Building.
I wrote and presented this public talk, organised as part of Dundee Women’s Festival.
More info: Face to Face: With an Audience
A Meeting of Minds
Tuesday April 10 2018
Baxter room 1.36, Tower Building, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HN
Public event to accompany the exhibition Face to Face: Stories from the Asylum. I helped organise the event and participated as part of a panel of four speakers
More info: A Meeting of Minds
Out of Our Minds – a Creative Writing Workshop
Saturday May 26 2018
Tower Foyer Gallery, Tower Building, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HN
This was a one-day creative writing workshop run in collaboration with University of Dundee School of Humanities/Creative Writing. I helped organise the workshop and assisted on the day.
More info: Out of Our Minds
Next: Time Travels
Related Blog Posts
Face to Face Update
Face to Face: Women and the Asylum
Face to Face: With an Audience
Face to Face opens to the public
A Meeting of Minds
Out of Our Minds
Morag Allan Campbell 