The art-therapeutic atelier, a peaceful and persevering promoter of free expression

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the art-therapeutic atelier, a protected public space far from any kind of personal (pre)judgment, has been a peaceful promoter of subjective, individual and collective, free and experimental personal expression, essential for the definition of identity and for the relational development of users. Despite the difficulties, many Italian ateliers allowed their patients to continue their course of treatment during the epidemic spread. Among them, this research describes the activity of two case studies located in the province of Milan: the Spazio-Vita atelier, situated next to the spinal unit of the Niguarda Hospital in Milan, led by Dr. Donatella Barbuio, dedicated to patients with motor disabilities, and the Atelier Diblu, branch of the Department of Mental Health of ASST Melegnano and Martesana (MI), led by Professor Giorgio Bedoni, for the treatment of psychiatric patients. In both cases, cultural production has been an exemplary reactive and resilient response to the overwhelming uncertainty originated with the pandemic. Although hindered by Covid-19, the case studies’ incontrovertible success in therapeutic efficacy by means of cultural production clearly shows the importance of the global promotion of similar organisations, and the universal therapeutic potential of art, in all of its forms.