The Experience of the Psychiatric Hospital of Rio de Janeiro: From Asylum to Cultural Center

Abstract

This paper discusses the relationship between Art and Psychiatry in Brazil, highlighting the

work of Psychiatrist Nise da Silveira at the Pedro II Psychiatric Center in Rio de Janeiro. In

the 1940s, the relationship between medicine and art had credibility in the academia, but

in practice, hospitals still operated electric shocks, lobotomies and sedatives in order to

neutralize the patient's reaction. The work environment was rude and hostile.

When taking over the Occupational Therapy and Rehabilitation Section of the hospital, Dr.

Nise organized painting and sculpture studios to put into practice the occupational and

therapeutic process, which could lead to the psychic restoration or even the cure of

patients. Nise also organized soirees with theater, poetry, music and parties, and all the

employees in the department participated, in order to make the environment more

affectionate and humanized. All this methodological innovation in dealing with patients

brought the psychiatrist adversaries in the workplace: doctors and therapists at the hospital

valued traditional aggressive techniques, and saw Nise's work as nothing more than

feminine amateurism.