Artist and TV presenter Grayson Perry has officially opened a new exhibition space at the heart of the world’s oldest psychiatric institution in Beckenham.

The Turner Prize winning artist unveiled the museum and gallery on Thursday (March 19) at Bethlem Royal Hospital, on Monks Orchard Road, previously known as ‘Bedlam’.

Over the years, the hospital has acquired a huge collection of artworks, much of it created by patients past and present, which is now on display at the Bethlem Gallery and Museum of the Mind.

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Mr Grayson, who was joined by a packed audience including Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker, said: “Art is the greatest asset to mental health that I have.”

Artwork is on display by renowned artists who spent years in Bethlem hospital including detailed fairy painter Richard Dadd, who was locked up after murdering his father, and biblical artist Jonathan Martin, who tried to burn down York Minster.

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South London and Maudsley NHS Trust chief executive Dr Matthew Patrick said: “Every time I step inside the building I feel a real depth of emotion: immense pride to have some association with this endeavour; admiration for the people who have created and contributed to this space; shame at some of what is portrayed and represented about our past and present; and hope in relation to a future where humanity in its broadest sense is central to mental health.”

The Bethlem Gallery and Museum of the Mind will open from Wednesdays to Fridays and on the first and last Saturdays of the month.

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