The workshop was hosted in Filodramatica, the historical location of Drugo More, and organized by Valeria Graziano, Lecturer at the Institute for Applied Theatre Studies, Justus-Liebig University, Giessen and Francesco Salvini (aka Pantxo Ramas) from Conferenza Basaglia and. Their efforts created an atmosphere of deep reflection and productive discussion, accompanying participants through an exploration of Rotelli’s theoretical and pragmatic work.

PARTICIPANTS

The diverse group of participants enriched the workshop with their varied backgrounds and expertise:

· Sanja Bojanić, executive director of the Center for Advanced Studies for Southeast Europe (CAS SEE)
· Claudia Delso Carreira, activist and consultant at Barcelona Research Institute (IDRA)
· Janna Graham, Co-Director of the forthcoming Centre for Institutional Analysis at Goldsmiths University where she leads the BA Curating
· Gabriel Hensche, School of Commons at the Zurich University of the Arts
· Lepa Mladjenović, activist and co-founder of Women in Black
· Luca Negrogno, Gian Franco Minguzzi Institution of the Metropolitan City of Bologna
· Bojana Piškur, curator at the Museum of Modern Art in Ljubljana
· Ana Rodriguez Armendariz, researcher and cultural worker
· Mirela Travar, coordinator of Operation City, Zagreb
· Irene Turiel García, primary care doctor in Asturias and activist

BACKGROUND

In 1988, Franco Rotelli (1942-2023) proposed the Invented Institution as a strategy to persist the institutional experience of Trieste, where, following the abolition of asylums led by Franco Basaglia, the process of radical imagination of other forms of care led to a profound re-signification of welfare in general. Specifically, new community care services for people with mental health problems were implemented in the 1970s, and then – throughout the 1980s – cultural laboratories, housing projects and labour cooperatives were set up in a social-public partnership to support the social rights of people in situations of vulnerability, breaking beyond the boundaries of the psychiatric discipline. In the 1990s, this process of radical institutional design reached the rest of the health system and welfare in general. The transversality of this endeavour makes it significant in the field of radical institutional practices in general and specifically in the contemporary challenges of radical cultural practice.

Speaking of the invented institution, Rotelli wrote:

“The production of life and social reproduction, which are the purpose and practice of the invented institution, must escape the narrow ways of the disciplinary gaze, as of the psychological investigation, as of the pure phenomenological understanding, and become fabric, engineering of reconstruction of meaning, of production of value, time, responsibility, identification of situations of suffering and oppression, reinsertion into the social body, consumption and production, exchange, new roles, other material ways of being for the other, in the eyes of the other. We are increasingly convinced that our work is this work of de-institutionalisation aimed at reconstructing ourselves with others as social actors, at preventing suffocating under the role, the behaviour, the stereotyped and introjected identity that is the overdetermined mask of the ill. That to cure – to care? to curate?– means to take care here and now of transforming the patient’s ways of living and feeling suffering and at the same time transforming his or her, as well as our, concrete everyday life.”

“Therefore, the invented institution on the theme of the ‘suffering existence of the body in relation to the social body’ is made up of practices that, by breaking the separation of the medical model and recognising in the psychological model the identical vices of the biological model, fully enter the territory of social engineering as motors of sociality and producers of meaning, fully intervening in daily life, daily oppressions, moments of possible social reproduction, producers of wealth, multiple exchanges, and therefore therapeutic. Therapeuticity is therefore the intentionality of practices that are material mediators, capable of restarting blocked social exchanges, of collecting and valorising the symptoms, the symbols, the multiple senses of the patient by dislocating them, de-institutionalising them through paradox. Accepting the challenge of the complexity of the multiple levels of existence and not reducing the subject to an illness or a communication disorder, or to a poor person, or autonomising his body or his psyche, but reinscribing him in the social body.”

(Extracts from: Franco Rotelli, L’Istituzione Inventata, 1988, in “Per la salute mentale/ For mental health” 1/88 – Review of the Regional Centre of Study and Research of Friuli Venezia Giulia)

THE WORKSHOP

The three-day workshop was structured to foster intensive discussion, collective readings, and reflective dialogue. The opening day began with presentation of the figure of Rotelli by Pantxo Ramas, who worked closely with Rotelli in recent years, curating the the documentation and research centre Oltre Il Giardino. Valeria Graziano then addressed the role of institutional analysis and deinstitutionalization practices within contemporary debates centering care and cultural production and reproduction. These two presentations set the background for a series of introductory presentations from all members of the school, grounded in different experiences (artistic, academic, third sector and healthcare organizations) situated in multiple and diverse settings (Yugoslavia, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Italy, Spain, Germany, UK).

The second day the collective delved into an experimental practice of reflection and exchange, facilitated through a collective translation of Rotelli’s seminal text, “The Invented Institution,” and a number of archival materials – including photgraphs, texts and videos documenting activities relative to the deinstitutionalization process in Trieste and the role of creative practices in that context (including the organization of a carnival parade which saw the failed attempt to launch a hot air baloon; the theatrical productions of the Academia della Follia, which were also breadcast as a television programme; and Marco Cavallo, a large blue papier-mâché horse created in 1973 by the patients of the psychiatric hospital in Trieste, representing the breaking down of barriers between the inside and outside worlds).

The final day continued the translation work (which will result in a publication, forthcoming), culminating in a comprehensive discussion that tied together the insights and reflections from the entire workshop.

Throughout the workshop, participants reflected on how ideas about the intersection of cultural practices and social care can inform and transform contemporary institutions. The process was not just about understanding Rotelli’s text but about envisioning how the principles of the invented institution can be applied today to create more inclusive and sensitive social systems.

KEY THEMES

The workshop was a fertile ground for reflection and insight. Participants shared experiences and perspectives on the challenges and potentials of implementing Rotelli’s ideas in contemporary contexts. Discussions ranged from the importance of continuous critique and transformation of traditional power structures within institutions to the role of cultural practices in creating spaces for alternative forms of sociality and care.

Franco Rotelli’s concept of the Invented Institution extended the radical transformation of mental health care initiated by Franco Basaglia in Trieste. This transformation saw the closure of asylums and the development of community-based care services, which integrated cultural practices into the fabric of social care. These initiatives included cultural laboratories, housing projects, and labor cooperatives, which supported the social rights of individuals with mental health issues and other vulnerabilities, breaking free from the restrictive psychiatric discipline of the time.

The collective translation of Rotelli’s text provided a focal point for the workshop, allowing participants to engage deeply with his ideas. Rotelli’s emphasis on the production of life and social reproduction as core practices of the invented institution resonated strongly, highlighting the need to move beyond narrow disciplinary approaches and towards a more holistic and socially integrated model of care.

One of the key themes that emerged was the necessity of re-imagining institutions organizational praxis to support social rights and community care genuinely. Participants emphasized the importance of applying the principles of deinstitutionalization in practical, impactful and sustainable ways is the only way forward in addressing current social and political challenges. A recurring theme explored was the artificiality of barriers between cultural, wellbeing and socio-political provisions, which should rather be engaged with as in a continuum. Similarly, the mutual implications between systemic mechanisms of violence and subjective repertoirs and gestures were explored.

The need for rethinking cycles of continuous engagement in more cyclical and ecosystemic ways was another critical insight. Institutions and movements often have beginnings and endings. Their ongoing processes require a commitment to reflexive practices, ensuring that institutions remain dynamic and responsive to the needs of the people they serve.

The workshop concluded with a final discussion that encapsulated the key insights and reflections from the event. The participants underscored the importance of Rotelli’s legacy and insight, while acknowledging the need for ongoing efforts to invent new institutional dispositives as we oppose the oppressive one that make up our inheritance from certain toxic modern ideologies. The collective engagement and dialogue that characterized the workshop are essential components in this process, providing a model for how to approach the complex and multifaceted challenges of contemporary social care.

As we continue to explore and develop the concepts discussed during the workshop, we remain committed to furthering the legacy of Franco Rotelli and the transformative potential of the Invented Institution.