Colin Gale is the director and former archivist of Bethlem, which means he knows rather a lot about the history of the place and about the history of mental health art itself. Dave has made work about his mental health in a variety of mediums (the exhibition, an album, comedy, a book) and they will talk about this journey and how Dave came to make “Delusions.” We will also pick Colin’s brains about other artists, the history of sectioning and they will investigate “why.” Why does art about mental health happen?

The conversation will be presented and facilitated by Lydia Towsey, a writer, performer and author of two full length poetry collections, The Venus Papers and The English Disease. In addition to her work as an artist, she is an Arts in Health Co-ordinator for Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust; the Director of WORD! - an NHS co-produced poetry organisation delivering one of the longest running poetry events in the UK - and Co-Director of BrightSparks - an Arts in Mental Health focused charity. She has an MA in Creative Writing and has also made work drawing on her own mental health experiences.