In France, a new prescription for mental health: Museum visits

Tucked in the back of the Palais de Tokyo, a sweeping modern art museum in Paris, is a large studio. Called Le Hamo, like the French word for hamlet, it is just like its homophone – cozy and inviting. Wormlike ceramic shelving shows off amateur artwork: rust-colored clay figurines and sculptures made of old batteries, cardboard, and toothpicks.

Since September, small groups have come to the studio for art workshops, often in conjunction with visits to the museum. Today, four young people diagnosed with autism have just come from “Infinite Vessel,” by Algerian artist Dalila Dalléas Bouzar, next door.

Resident cultural mediator Lorraine Suty