The Library of Congress will mount a major Freud exhibit, now scheduled to open September 26, 1996. The exhibit, expected to a be a landmark event in the history of psychoanalysis, was originally proposed to the library by Harold P. Blum, executive director of the Sigmund Freud Archives. The library, the legal custodian of the archives, received a 1994 Sigourney Award for its contributions to preserving Freud's papers and other documents related to psychoanalysis.
The exhibit, entitled Freud: Conflict and Culture, will emphasize Freud's enduring importance in the history of ideas. While psychoanalysis as a theory of mind and as a therapy for psychological disorder will be noted, the exhibit will focus on the influence of Freud's ideas regarding culture and on the relevance of psychoanalytic thought, not only to psychiatry and psychology, but to the social sciences, the arts, and the humanities.
The exhibit is intended for an international audience and may be the subject of telecasts abroad. Certain features of the exhibit may also become available on the Internet. In light of the negative publicity about psychoanalysis currently in circulation, the denigration of Freud, and the distortion of his ideas, the exhibit provides an opportunity to educate the public about Freud and the cultural and social importance of psychoanalysis. Government officials and members of Congress will be invited to tour the exhibit, and the academic community will participate in associated seminars, symposia, and publications. The Library of Congress has appointed an independent curator, Professor Michael S. Roth, and a board of consultants that includes Blum, Harold Leopold-Lowenthal, and Carl E. Schorske.
The exhibit will eventually travel to Vienna, where it will be mounted as part of the celebration of Austria's millennium. The Austrian government intends to particularly honor Freud during that observance.
The exhibit will be enhanced by a catalog, a public lecture series, and a guided audio tour. Also planned is an educational cable television program, a festival of films inspired by Freud and his ideas, and a scholarly conference. Freud's portrait will be hung in the library's Exhibit Hall.
Leading scholars will be commissioned to write essays for the exhibition catalog covering Freud's ideas, his environment, his disciples and critics, and his influence, and trained docents will be available to assist with tours of the exhibit.
Through its commitment to electronic access for the global community, the Library of Congress is in a unique position to expand the audience for this project and thus to increase its impact. Nonrestricted documents from the exhibit transmitted through on-line networks will widen access to the material in the library's collections.
The exhibit and the public programming surrounding it will be designed to reach a large and varied audience, including the general public, students, educators, and scholars. By presenting a series of interdisciplinary public lectures, the library will stimulate exchange and the exploration of controversies surrounding Freud's ideas, their application, and their intellectual and cultural influence. The exhibit is expected to be the most popular ever mounted at the library, with attendance anticipated to exceed a quarter million.