FRANCESCO BERTOCCO. BREAKING THE CIRCUIT OF CONTROL

Exhibition Francesco Bertocco. Breaking the Circuit of Control –
photographies, videoinstallation |
Curated by Gabi Scardi, with Mariagrazia Muscatello |

Piran Coastal Galleries, Monfort Gallery (Portoroz) |

From June 21, until August 23, 2026 –
Opening: Saturday, June 20, at 7 p.m.

Francesco Bertocco. Breaking the Circuit of Control is a project by artist Francesco Bertocco, known for his research on the history of medicine and therapeutic practices. The work focuses on Franco Basaglia, the influential Italian psychiatrist and reformer whose radical ideas challenged institutional psychiatry. Basaglia’s critique of coercive treatments and the notion of psychiatric “dangerousness” helped ignite a global anti-institutional movement that redefined mental health care.

Bertocco’s project centers on Basaglia’s 1979 journey to Brazil, particularly his visit to Juqueri, once one of the world’s largest psychiatric hospitals. Located fifty kilometers from São Paulo, Juqueri housed up to 100,000 patients between 1918 and 1990. Though now closed, the institution was fully active when Basaglia visited. His trip also included stops at the Colônia Hospital in Barbacena, the Instituto Sedes Sapientiae, the Teatro de Cultura Artística in São Paulo, and the University Hospital in Belo Horizonte. During this tour, he met with leading figures in Brazilian psychiatry and delivered a series of influential lectures.

These lectures were later published in Brazilian Conferences, a work that captures both the urgency and the humanist passion of Basaglia’s thought. His visit to Brazil was partly inspired by the powerful pen-and-ink portraits of Juqueri patients created in the early 1950s by Italian artist and designer Roberto Sambonet. These haunting images had a profound effect on Basaglia, symbolizing the violence of institutional marginalization.

Even before this journey, Basaglia had been deeply influenced by Latin American thinkers such as Paulo Freire, author of Pedagogy of the Oppressed. He aligned himself with the region’s broader emancipatory movements, including public protests against authoritarian regimes—among them the 1974 Venice Biennale demonstration in solidarity with Chile, in which he participated.

Bertocco’s project revisits Basaglia’s Brazilian journey through photography and video installation. By documenting Juqueri and staging scenes that evoke Basaglia’s methods, the work explores themes central to his legacy: the perception and treatment of mental illness, the architecture of total institutions, and the role of infrastructure in shaping systems of control. It also reflects on the concept of confinement as a mechanism for excluding those deemed abnormal or dangerous. The spatial isolation of Juqueri—closer to the forest than the city—epitomizes this logic of exclusion.

The project draws on the involvement of several Brazilian institutions engaged in ongoing debates around psychiatry and collective memory. Through a lens that intertwines past and present, Bertocco revisits a pivotal moment of cross-continental dialogue and critical resistance, honoring Basaglia’s belief that real change is possible.

Content by: Gabi Scardi, Mara Ambrožič Verderber, Mariagrazia Muscatello.

CONTENT PRESENTATION

Francesco Bertocco. Breaking the Circuit of Control is a project by artist Francesco Bertocco, known for his research on the history of medicine and therapeutic practices. The work focuses on Franco Basaglia, the influential Italian psychiatrist and reformer whose radical ideas challenged institutional psychiatry. Basaglia’s critique of coercive treatments and the notion of psychiatric “dangerousness” helped ignite a global anti-institutional movement that redefined mental health care.

Bertocco’s project centers on Basaglia’s 1979 journey to Brazil, particularly his visit to Juqueri, once one of the world’s largest psychiatric hospitals. Located fifty kilometers from São Paulo, Juqueri housed up to 100,000 patients between 1918 and 1990. Though now closed, the institution was fully active when Basaglia visited. His trip also included stops at the Colônia Hospital in Barbacena, the Instituto Sedes Sapientiae, the Teatro de Cultura Artística in São Paulo, and the University Hospital in Belo Horizonte. During this tour, he met with leading figures in Brazilian psychiatry and delivered a series of influential lectures.

These lectures were later published in Brazilian Conferences, a work that captures both the urgency and the humanist passion of Basaglia’s thought. His visit to Brazil was partly inspired by the powerful pen-and-ink portraits of Juqueri patients created in the early 1950s by Italian artist and designer Roberto Sambonet. These haunting images had a profound effect on Basaglia, symbolizing the violence of institutional marginalization.

Even before this journey, Basaglia had been deeply influenced by Latin American thinkers such as Paulo Freire, author of Pedagogy of the Oppressed. He aligned himself with the region’s broader emancipatory movements, including public protests against authoritarian regimes—among them the 1974 Venice Biennale demonstration in solidarity with Chile, in which he participated.

Bertocco’s project revisits Basaglia’s Brazilian journey through photography and video installation. By documenting Juqueri and staging scenes that evoke Basaglia’s methods, the work explores themes central to his legacy: the perception and treatment of mental illness, the architecture of total institutions, and the role of infrastructure in shaping systems of control. It also reflects on the concept of confinement as a mechanism for excluding those deemed abnormal or dangerous. The spatial isolation of Juqueri—closer to the forest than the city—epitomizes this logic of exclusion.

The project draws on the involvement of several Brazilian institutions engaged in ongoing debates around psychiatry and collective memory. Through a lens that intertwines past and present, Bertocco revisits a pivotal moment of cross-continental dialogue and critical resistance, honoring Basaglia’s belief that real change is possible.

Content by Gabi Scardi, Tina Jazbec, Mariagrazia Muscatello.