Le cycle des réponses

From 1888 to 1978, at the psychiatric asylum in Volterra, Italy, tens of thousands of letters written by patients were kept in clinical files, without a single word reaching their intended recipients. There are more than 50,000 of them. About a hundred of these letters—a randomly selected sample—were published in the Italian book Corrispondenza negata. In 2007, psychoanalyst Patrick Faugeras translated them and published them under the title Lettres mortes: Censored Correspondence from the Madhouse through Encre et Lumière.

In July 2018, during a residency lasting several weeks at the psychiatric hospital in Nantes, we responded to the censored letters from Volterra through sound and the spoken voice. All of these responses, from dozens of patients and caregivers present that summer, can be found below.

In August 2018, we traveled to Volterra and left the recordings of these responses within the ruins of the former asylum.

In 2022, the cycle of responses continued: high school students from Lycée Chaptal in Mende responded to the letters in writing.

In 2024, at the invitation of La Broussaille—a creative and restorative space in the Creuse department—the cycle of responses came to life once more: residents of several local care centers (CH La Valette, GEM Bourganeuf, and GEM Guéret) responded in turn.

All of these written responses can be found below.

The cycle of responses is an attempt to experience a poetic act as a form of healing.

If you, in turn, would like to respond to one of Volterra’s letters, please write to us.

It’s always possible to respond.