(Vienna, 02 March 2021) Starting immediately, the exhibition on the overarching theme of Medical Humanities, with access via "Medical Comics", will once again be on display in the Lecture Center in Vienna General Hospital (Level 8). It is staggered and is once again open to visitors on a daily basis under the currently prevailing hygiene precautions. Details of how to access it are available on the website: www.meduniwien.ac.at/medical-comics. The exhibition, which will run until 30 June 2021, goes under the banner of "Art – Action – Attitude/Body" Admission is free.
Two other exhibitions are planned at the Medical University of Vienna as part of a three-year project on the theme of “Graphic Medicine”. This year's exhibition on the subject of "Body" will be followed by exhibitions on the overarching themes of "Boundaries " (2021) and "Pain" (2022). As well as medical comics, the exhibitions make use of other media such as films, photographs, poems, literature and music. The range of possible emotions symbolises the many different ways we can experience situations from different perspectives when we change our point of view. Views from different perspectives show that it can be helpful to step outside one's "own role". Interactive stations associated with the individual exhibits also offer an opportunity for active participation and reflection.
Visual expression occupies an important place, especially in medicine, where, ultimately, it is necessary to process pain, loss, overload, illness, grief, emotional stress, visible and invisible injuries and much more. Nobody finds it easy to cope with all aspects of day-to-day medical care as a matter of course, as it presents challenges for doctors, students, medical staff, families and relatives and, last but not least, the patients themselves.
The exhibition is directly linked to MedUni Vienna's general aim of promoting "Medical Humanities" (an interdisciplinary field at the interface between medicine and all human sciences) and highlighting and consolidating them within the entire university sector. To this end, courses focussing on "Medical Humanities" are also being included in the curriculum.
A look behind the obvious
"By reflecting on everyday and critical clinical situations and understanding needs in so-called medical comics and in graphic medicine as an interaction between comics and healthcare, we are able to look behind the obvious. The primary focus is not on humorous representation but on the visual processing of different topics. "With this exhibition, we are aiming to bring about a change in perspective," explain the originators Eva Katharina Masel (Department of Medicine I) and Andrea Praschinger from MedUni Vienna's Teaching Center. "This is an opportunity to tackle difficult everyday topics, make them easier to understand and easier to accept via the medium of comics."
Medical Comics Exhibition
The exhibition will run until 30 June 2021. It is on display in the MedUni Vienna Lecture Center in Vienna General Hospital (Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Level 8) and includes 35 works by international and Austrian artists. Details of exact opening times and access information in line with coronavirus restrictions can be found at: www.meduniwien.ac.at/medical-comics.