Human identity constantly evolves through the experience of the self, which is interwoven with biography, self-perception, emotions, and physicality.

Mental health crises pose a particular challenge to the experience of identity. This is the subject of the exhibition, “Who Am I? Images of the Search for Identity in the Prinzhorn Collection.” It showcases selected works from the Prinzhorn Collection, created by individuals with a history of mental illness between 1895 and 2024.

Those diagnosed with “schizophrenia” often struggle to maintain a stable, consistent self-image. They experience a loss of identity, or an “alienation of the self,” because they perceive their own feelings, thoughts, or actions as foreign or controlled from the outside.

In the entrance hall, we showcase Agnes Richter’s jacket. She sewed it herself in 1895 at the Hubertusburg asylum, then embroidered autobiographical texts inside and outside. This extraordinary textile piece, one of the most famous works in the collection, can be interpreted as Richter’s attempt to preserve her identity within the psychiatric institution.

The ground floor of the exhibition hall features a variety of self-portraits ranging from naturalistic to abstract, symbolic, and conceptual. These self-portraits served as a means of self-assurance in difficult life situations. Examples include Kerstin Strecke’s mandala-shaped “Ich bin” (I Am) and Dietrich Orth’s large-format, synapse-like composition “Selbst” (Self).

In the gallery, fragmented or technologized self-testimonies serve as prime examples of self-loss or the reconstruction of the self in exceptional psychological situations. Autobiographical picture stories and diaries address the circumstances that led to institutionalization. Self-portraits created in cells or hospital rooms and depictions of treatment methods and psychiatric diagnoses offer insights into alienation from one's identity, including that caused by the institution.