Palais de Tokyo – Le Hamo

The Palais de Tokyo’s approach to mental health, while operating at different levels, has a physical location, the hamo, a new space for mediation, inclusion and education through art. Conceived as a village, it is a space for reception, practice, research and artistic experimentation. Its activities are designed to reach out to the public, without hierarchy: children, teenagers, adults, senior citizens, the general public and the more informed.

Convinced that a relationship with artworks and artistic practice can be a source of fulfilment for everyone, and particularly for people living with pathologies (medical physical and mental conditions) or disabilities, the Palais de Tokyo wanted to build the hamo project around the notion of well-being and care. In particular, it is proposing new workshop formats in collaboration with artists, professionals and associations working in the field of mental health, such as the “Bien mieux” workshops for young people suffering from ill-being, based on the model of discussion groups. This can definitely inspire other cultural establishments to focus more on the marginalised public, and if not to create a dedicated space for this purpose, maybe at least to create a discourse dedicated to inclusion and accessibility aspects, as well as workshops etc.

Individual visitors, families, school groups, people suffering from exclusion or disability and stakeholders, socio-educational relays, with a particular focus on mental health. The Hamo was imagined as a pioneering serice for the inclusion, visibility and support of people with “special needs” (concerned by psychiatry, whether they have a mental or psychological disability, neuro-atypical or going through a period of vulnerability).

Circulation, exhibition itineraries, display methods and timescales are all changing to better accommodate the diversity of visitors: dedicated visiting slots with reduced sound or light intensity, adaptation of texts, easy to read and understand (FALC) leaflets, and so on.

Mixed public/private funding, generating more than half of the establishment’s operating budget each year, thanks in particular to corporate sponsorship and its association of friends, events organised by brands and Fashion Week shows, and several concessions (a bookshop, several restaurants and a club).

As the hamo is a place of ideation, its replicability potential is big – as the central idea of this concept is inclusion and accessibility, paying attention to normally marginalised groups, addressing the discourse to all the public, and not only to the privileged, stereotypical, idealised public. The hamo isn’t really about the place, but rather the concept.

It embodies and affirms the social role of an art centre by aiming to bring people together and create points of convergence between cultural mediation and care, so as to encourage the development of shared projects. By deleting the hierarchy typical for cultural establishments, it opens the access to culture to the groups that have before been marginalised or didn’t feel entitled or good in a cultural space.

“Just as the adaptation of public spaces to motor disabilities has been beneficial to the entire population (and not just the elderly, the physically more vulnerable or children), the institution’s interest in mental health will benefit all members of the public.” Guillaume Désanges, author of the white paper COSA MENTALE on art, mental health and neurodiversity at the Palais de Tokyo