Museum Dr. Guislain, Flanders, Belgium
4.0 (319 reviews) Sunday: 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM Spent Ranking #20 in East Flanders Province Speciality Museums
Startlingly beautiful
We were in Ghent for only a night and visited this as we were leaving. An asylum that houses outsider art. Breathtakingly inventive and tragic at the same time. The asylum is still being used by patients. It is a little out of the way but a tram (No.1) goes right outside the front entrance. Recommended. One of the best museum shows I have seen. Current show is called Unhinged. Reminds you to be aware of mental health, in a good way. So much talent here.
Address
Jozef Guislainstraat 43, Ghent 9000 Belgium
Mobile
Website
http://www.museumdrguislain.be/index.php?option=com
Working hours
Monday :
Tuesday : 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday : 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday : 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday : 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday : 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Sunday : 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Current local date and time now
Sunday, May 12, 2024, 6:41
User Ratings
4.0 based on (319 reviews)
Reviews
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5Jason W 5:00 PM Nov 18, 2021
Fascinatingly disparate
Outstanding architecture under an overcast November sky. Three starkly different presentations placed in the echoes of an institute for mental health. A special place which requires some time to digest the experience. We were gifted in that we almost had the experience to ourselves. A place to go for something different.
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5AllanJGJ 5:00 PM Sep 21, 2017
Superb off-beat museum
If you're a museum person you probably like throwing the occasional off-beat offering into the mix. If so, this superb, thought-provoking museum should be a definite during your time in Ghent. It's a little bit outside the historic centre in an old 'mental' home but if you don't feel like walking the number one tram will drop you at it's front door. The main, permanent exhibition traverses various cultures' thoughts on mental illness and its potential cures. All captions had (good) English translations, a refreshing change from many Western European museums.There's many interesting, and some disturbing, artifacts and considerable detail on the various strands of treating mental health conditions. The curator of this exhibition was clearly, and rightly, proud of the role of Dr Guislan and Belgium in our modern thinking on mental health treatment. The fact that all of this is in what could only be an institutional building makes it all the more poignant. In addition to the main exhibition there are two substantial displays of 'outsider' art, created by artists with mental-health issues. There are some fascinating works and ideas and one comes away with the obvious question as to how many of the great artists (not just van Gogh) had mental-health issues! This is a well curated museum and obviously not a bundle of laughs. It might well challenge to thing about those on the 'outside'. Definitely worth your time.
