An exhibition exploring the role of social bonds in mental health is set to open at the Bethlem Museum of the Mind, located within the world's oldest psychiatric hospital in south-east London. Titled 'Kindred', the show will run from 16 January to 27 June 2026 and features works by artists who draw on their own experiences of mental ill health.
The exhibition includes pieces such as 'Morning Group' by Charlotte Johnson Wahl, the late mother of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, which depicts her horror of group therapy sessions during her time as a patient at the Maudsley hospital. Gareth McConnell's photographs capture empty rooms awaiting community therapy sessions, while contemporary artist Mud presents three pieces charting their journey from distrust to healing through therapy.
Rebecca Raybone, exhibitions officer at Bethlem, said the free show evolved from the museum sector's challenge to foster social cohesion and justice in polarised times. 'Society can make you feel very alone sometimes, or can have the opposite effect of making you feel really part of something,' she noted. The exhibition's title, 'Kindred', reflects the positivity of forming bonds, but also portrays negative aspects of groups.
Other works include Charles Lutyens' oil painting 'The Group', David Chick's 'People Trying to Reach Me', Benji Reid's 'Holding on to Daddy', and ceramics by Bibi Herrera. Colin Gale, director of the museum, said: 'In a climate of political, cultural, and economic atomisation, social cohesion seems elusive. The presence, or absence, of community is felt especially keenly in the face of mental health challenges.'
