Delegates from the British Psychological Society's 2015 annual conference in Liverpool can attend a post-conference tea party hosted by Madlove at FACT, a media arts centre, on Thursday 7 May from 16:30.

Madlove is a participatory installation created by artist the vacuum cleaner (Jamie Leadbitter) that is supported by a Society public engagement grant and the Wellcome Trust. 

The installation responds to the artist’s own experience of psychiatric hospitals as punishing rather than loving environments. A collaboratively designed asylum has been created at FACT as “a safe place to go mad”, appropriate for a society where many of us experience emotional distress. Madlove features advisors from across the health, higher education and science as well as design sectors, including principal partner the Institute of Psychology, Health and Society, University of Liverpool.

As part of the research and development process the vacuum cleaner held workshops throughout the UK with patients and professionals from the health and psychology sectors, as well as members of the general public. The accumulated ideas and knowledge were used to develop a blueprint for the creation of a temporary psychiatric hospital at FACT.

The exhibition design, created by researcher and PhD Student at Royal College of Art Benjamin Koslowski, has been carefully considered to evoke self-reflection and introspection by highlighting the threshold between the private, individual experience of the exhibition and the societal dynamics behind mental health issues.

Part of the exhibition is an interactive archive showing 20 years of FACT projects for participants with mental health issues, in which artists have been working closely with the community in creative projects as well as created digital tools that support mental health. These projects have been organised in collaboration with various mental health organisations, including Mersey Care NHS Trust.

BPS annual conference delegates can pre-book for this special event with a chance to see the exhibition. For more information please contact our Policy Team. The BPS 2015 annual conference takes place in the ACC in Liverpool from 5 to 7 May.

Madlove is free and open to the public untill 17 May 2015 at FACT, Wood Street in Liverpool as part of their Group Therapy: Mental Distress in a Digital Age exhibition.

Public Engagement Grants are available to help BPS members promote the relevance of evidence-based psychology to wider audiences, either through direct work or by organising special communications activities.

Madlove workshop illustrations provided by Lewis Campbell.

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