MARCUS HALEVI

Bedlam: Photographs From The Insane Asylums of Romania

The people portrayed in this portfolio are among the thousands of inmates incarcerated in the asylums of Romania. Like many Romanian institutions for the insane, the asylum at Plateresti is more than 150 years old. Its chambers are cold and dimly lit. Water from a leaking roof drips down the inside of a stone wall. At night, rodents run freely along the courtyard walls and through dark passageways. A rancid odor hangs in the damp air. On winter days, people sit inside, lined up on benches, coughing and shivering in their tattered overcoats. Drugged and passive, they are each in their own worlds: some babble to themselves, an old man shrieks intermittently, others sway back and forth as they stare at the drab walls in dazed silence. There are no books or televisions, no activities, and little human interaction. The heavy use of tranquilizing drugs enables the understaffed attendants to manage the crowded quarters. 

Most of these inmates are not criminals. However, the minority who are classified “criminally insane” are integrated into the asylum population. In effect, all are prisoners serving life sentences under very harsh conditions. For most inhabitants, institutionalization is a necessity, yet rehabilitation is never attempted. In fact, the longer a personal remains imprisoned, the less capable he is of leaving. As a result, very few will ever experience the freedom of the outside world. 

It is well known that some of these institutions still hold political prisoners incarcerated during the repressive regime of communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, who ruled from 1967 until his execution in 1989. His government chose to warehouse particular political dissidents in these remotely located asylums rather than place them in the more closely scrutinized prison system. Also, Ceausescu discovered that fabricating a case of insanity against his adversaries was easier than inventing a crime against them. Confined to these asylums for years, many of these political prisoners are now psychologically unfit to return to the outside world. They have become part of the insanity that surrounds them. 

Today , many of the younger asylum inmates are recent “graduates” of the infamous orphanages of Romania. Too old for the orphanages, most are incapable of adapting to an independent life. Their numbers are growing and their future is a lifetime of institutionalization. 

In addition to Plateresti, photographs for this project were taken inside the institutions at Abrud, Botosani, Cernavoda, Dumbraveni, Nicoresti, Sasca, and Trig Ocna. The photography was commissioned by the Free Romania Foundation as part of their unsuccessful campaign to improve conditions in these institutions. The photographs were taken during three trips to Romania in 1990 and 1991. 

 These ten 16x20 inch silver gelatin prints were produced at Palm Press, Inc. in collaboration with the artist in an edition of twenty-five with six artist proofs. Each print is signed by the artist, printed on archivally processed Ilford Multigrade fiber-base paper and encased in a Mylar/Reemay sleeve. Each portfolio is boxed in a handmade folio by Hope Bindery.