Pop-up Institute: reducing stigma by means of Creative Arts Therapies

The Pop-up Institute, an independent and project-based institute, aims to address precisely this societal problem: It aims to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness by using artistic media and artistic-therapeutic methods to communicate the experiences of those affected. It was founded in 2021 jointly by Prof. Dr. Kerstin Schoch and LilyMartin as a cooperation project with the Alanus Hochschule für Kunst und Gesellschaft.

In cooperation with artists, artistic therapists and people with experience of mental illness, non-verbal and pre-reflectiveexperiences are collected in different artistic media (movement/dance, visual arts, music), systematically processed andpresented to an audience through innovative formats (e.g. performance, exhibition). The resulting (kin)aesthetic experience enables a sensual, pre-reflective approach to concepts that often elude rationalunderstanding and verbal explanation.