Why do we archive? Ethical, political, and technical reflections on art collections in psychiatric institutions

This article begins with the question: “Why do we archive?” It reflects on art collections produced within contemporary psychiatric institutions in Portugal. It explores the ethical, bureaucratic, and political dimensions involved in the care and circulation of these works, created by people with lived experience of madness. Considering efforts to deinstitutionalize large psychiatric hospitals, the article examines specific cases of still-operational Portuguese institutions that house artistic archives. It problematises the status of these productions, which often oscillate between becoming defunct archives, being discarded, or circulating within art brut and outsider art circuits, raising questions regarding artist rights and the use of these works following the death or discharge of their creators. The analysis is structured around two main axes: first, the role of psychiatric institutions in light of the challenges posed by reforms to Mental Health Law; and second, the circulation of these artistic expressions and their contemporary discourses, with a focus on the Portuguese context. Finally, the article emphasises the urgent need to reconsider the management and preservation of these artistic archives, highlighting the tension between protecting privacy and providing access to the memory of institutionalised subjects, and questioning the current role of asylums as custodians of these cultural and human legacies.