The first time I heard about Manicómio (mad house or asylum, in English) – a creative space in Beato (Lisbon) for artists with mental illness – the first word that came to mind was “exploitation.” It was a purely irrational first reaction that lasted for less than a split second. I guess it says a lot about how we perceive mental illness as a society, especially for people of my generation who are just starting to deal with mental health openly.

Sandro Resende and José Azevedo, the founders of Manicómio, knew better, and since the project’s inception in 2019, they’ve been shattering the misconceptions about artists with mental illness through talent and creativity: “Contemporary artists and creatives with mental illness who are excluded due to our society’s stigma towards madness are at the heart of the project.”