Museums and Mental Health

Fostering Human Rights and Empowering Communities through Art and Education: The Case of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe

“…Such work dramatically enriches the quality of life for service users and begins the process of partnership between the museum and the audiences in residential care environments (Bates ). Apart from cementing partnerships between the gallery or museum and the audiences, the outreach programmes are fulfilling UNESCO's 1960 Convention against Discrimination in Education and the Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs Education (1994).…”

“…With regard to empowering groups that have previously been disenfranchised from the museum so that they may actively take part in decision‐making pertaining to museum activities, it has to be highlighted that within NGZ, most decisions are made by the board of trustees, whose composition does not include previously disenfranchised members. In the future, the gallery may need to consider including such members in decision‐making to ensure full inclusion, for instance by employing people with mental illness alongside other workers, to harness the former's skills and expertise (Bates ). This may also mean including previously marginalised members in decision‐making positions.…”