Il Therapeutic Readings
The project "Therapeutic Readings" aims to create the "Care Community" at the Conxo Psychiatric Hospital in Santiago de Compostela city through an expanded program on reading as a tool for social transformation with communities. We seek to integrate the hospital into the cultural life of the city, promoting equal access to culture. Through a literary residency, monthly reading sessions, and a European level annual meeting, we will rename the hospital's invisible heritage and open borders.
The "II Expanded Therapeutic Readings" project aims to create the "Care Community" at the Psychiatric Hospital of Conxo. Through reading as a tool for social transformation, we (re)integrate the hospital into Santiago de Compostela's city's cultural life.
Our activities will include:
Literary Residences: 5 writers will collectively compose a dictionary of terms and literary texts to rename the hospital's territory. This fosters creative exchange between patients and writers, promoting inclusion and empowerment. Monthly
Communal Readings: Writers will share texts from the "dictionary" about the hospital, encouraging reinterpretation of archival material and discussions on reading, heritage, and care.
2nd "Therapeutic Readings" Encounter: This intensive two-day event includes a heritage tour, conference on reading as a community tool, and debates. It culminates in a poetry recital, fostering community engagement and cultural participation.
First edition was celebrated last 2024 January 19-20th with Spanish national focus and Ministry support and a sold out attendance (102 attendees) from mental health sector and other health sector, libraries sector, jails sector, youth centres sector, cultural sector and even the patients of our hospital.