Eliminating Mental Health Taboos Using Wall Art

Sant Boi, a town in Spain known for its huge mental health hospital is seeking to eliminate mental health taboos using graffiti. For many years after the hospital was founded in 1855, the small community has been subject to discrimination for being known as the town with the "crazy" people. Artists are trying to break the silence surrounding taboos of mental health by "re-graffiti-ing" the wall that separates the hospital from the other parts of town. Before, the wall had been covered with messy scribbles and words. Now, they cleared the walls and painted carpets with interesting designs as a way to invite people to the other side. Out of all the things these artists could've drawn, why choose carpets? What's significant about a carpet draping over a wall? How do these carpets metaphorically try to invite townspeople in and patients out to the town? Click here for the full article