To mark its 25th anniversary in 2026, the Prinzhorn Collection Museum presents Is It All Art?, a major exhibition exploring how works created in psychiatric contexts can be displayed when they were neither intended for public viewing nor conceived as art.
Bringing together outstanding pieces from the museum’s unique collection of 40,000 works by psychiatric patients, the exhibition seeks to redefine the presentation of outsider art and strengthen its place within the wider art world.
Visitors will encounter iconic works in innovative ways, including a faithful reconstruction of Katharina Detzel’s life-size doll, allowing its physical presence to be experienced for the first time. Else Blankenhorn’s imaginative banknotes, created to fund the resurrection of lost lovers, are reprinted for visitors to handle and exchange. A highlight is Emma Mohr’s recently acquired State Album, a richly embroidered textile displayed on both sides and accompanied by a touchscreen displaying close-ups and transcriptions to help decipher its enigmatic message. Through these new approaches, the exhibition invites audiences to reconsider the boundaries of art, creativity and mental health.
