Peeling Back History: The Remembering Goodna Exhibition

Abstract

Exhibition Review Peeling Back History: The Remembering Goodna Exhibition Museum of Brisbane. Developed by: Brisbane City Council and the Queensland Department ofHealth, and inassociation with theCentre forPublic Culture and Ideas, Griffith University. Location: Brisbane City Hall. Temporary exhibition. Visited: 2 November 2007 In recent years, a growing dialogue between academic, public, and community history has brought us greater awareness of the complexities of institutional history, not least in the area of mental health. In thepast, the trauma ofmental illnesswas often compounded by incarceration and by methods of treatment interpolated with regimes of management, punishment, and control. On the other hand, many patients, as well as well-meaning staffand officials, were among those working to ameliorate the conditions of thementally ill.Aiming to reflect this diversity of experience and perspective, an array of personal and official accounts was brought together to great effect in theMuseum of Brisbane's 'Remembering Goodna' Exhibition. Goodna, Brisbane's mental hospital built in 1865, has passed through many incarnations, from insane asylum tomental health centre. The exhibition was an outstanding example of how a complex and deeply-felt history can be translated into the visual and aural world of the public and community museum exhibit, a considerable achievement that compelled one writer in the "Share your Goodna story...' book placed at the entrance of the exhibition, to comment: There are somany stoneswe will never know but thisdisplay peels back our history,the layersof understandingwhich are thefoundation of the present. And it is done in such a way as to honour the patients, clients, the people, who lived this story. Over thepast two decades and more, historians and curators working with histories ofmental health have sought to 'peel back' the layers of institutional lifeby bringing to theforepreviously marginalised stories. They have placed official accounts alongside case files, pictures, and objects, and in the context of the recollections of staff, family, and. 172 Health & History,2009. 11/1 Health& History ll/l 2009 173 most particularly, inmates. In putting together this exhibition, the Museum of Brisbane curator, JoBesley, and her team drew from a range ofmaterials but also contributed to theGoodna archive through the sharing stories book at the exhibition entrance, quoted above; by locating new objects and images to contribute to itshistory; and by recording the personal testimonies of various constituencies, including police. By combining individual and official accounts, as well as remarkable photographs and objects fromGoodna's past, the team created a nuanced account of its long history from inception to present day. Their compassionate evocation of its complex history, from the inside as it were, reflects theircommitment toboth the value of historical research (in collaboration with historian Mark Finnane) and the importance of community voice. Their translation of this diversity into an engaging exhibition illustrated the capacity of best museum practice to convey complexity invisual form, and to engage 174 EXHIBITION REVIEW theviewer in a visceral and embodied journey through 'history.' The task of preparing this exhibition must have been daunting and at times emotionally draining. Along with the Queensland Health Department (the industrypartner in theproject), several constituencies were strongly invested in the telling ofGoodna's story.To theircredit, the curatorial team succeeded in honouring each of these narratives while keeping their focus on several overarching themes: changes in mental health discourse, institutionalisation and its resistances, and trauma and hope, to name but a few. Recollections from patients, but also from staff and others, told of the profound ways inwhich memories continue to shape our present, while how we tell history continues to shape our understanding of the past. In the case of mental health, the legacies of the history ofmental health are evident still in the deinstitutionalisation movement of recent decades, and formany experiencing a daily struggle on the streets of our major cities. Ultimately, the 'peeling back' ofGoodna's history relies on the courage and willingness of ex-patients to talk about theirexperiences. In effect, they speak also for previous generations whose voices are often barely audible in the records. While some of the recollections of patients and ex-patients included in theGoodna exhibition have come from existing publications, most were especially recorded. Displayed on individual monitors, they became intimate, living windows onto a...