Poignant new exhibition of patient art unveiled at England's historic Psychiatric Hospital

England’s oldest psychiatric hospital is exhibiting never-before-displayed art pieces by its patients in a new show exploring sleep, dreams and nightmares.

Dreams, Art and the Mind

The museum is housed within the grounds of Bethlem Royal Hospital, which has been running since 1403 and inspired countless cultural depictions of madness-most notably Bedlam, a 1946 horror film starring Boris Karloff. 

The museum has paired these artworks with research into the most common dream types shared across cultures.

Canvas on Nightmares

One of the most appealing works on display in the show is Nightmare (1953) by William Kurelek, a Canadian artist who was treated in London in the early 1950s.

His canvases served as a kind of dialogue with his doctors-visual attempts to map his internal terrors.

Colin Gale, director at the Bethlem museum of the Mind described Nightmare: “What he did was painted for his doctors that tried to explain to them all of his preoccupations and difficulties and in particular this picture called Nightmare is a composite of all the many nightmares that dogged him at the time.”

The exhibition also provide space to the experience of insomnia. Artist Kate McDonnell’s installation Night Tides is monumental, made from duvets, pillowcases and bedding inked with frantic, looping lines of text - the kind of irrational worries that surface in the small hours.

“So, this artwork is about insomnia and the weird state that we occupy in the middle of the night.

So, it’s made from duvets and pillowcases and bedding and it’s all written over those kinds of anxious thoughts that we have, the irrational weirdness that insomnia really generates.

And a lot of "my work embodies uncomfortable, intangible feelings,” says McDonnell.

“What I hope people get from this piece of work is that they’re not alone in what they’re feeling,” she continued, adding, “Because I think it’s universal truth everybody has experienced, insomnia in some way.

"And I like that kind of link that we all have as human beings, whether you’re very little or much older.”

The exhibition “Between Sleeping and Waking” runs until November 8, at the Bethlem Museum of the Mind, London Borough of Bromley, this thought-provoking showcase explores the blurred lines between dreams and reality.

Visitors can expect to immerse themselves in the world of art that captures the essence of the sleepless nights, anxious thoughts, and the fragile state between sleeping and waking.