BALMY KÖLN

What It’s All About 

Have you ever been told that you’re the problem, even though something inside you strongly doubts it? The “Balmy Army” is an art, activism, and networking project for young people who no longer want to accept the current system of mental health care. Since 2022, Mad Pride activists, radical dreamers, and artists have been connecting here to fight for fair support through the medium of art. With the arrival of the “Balmy Army” in Cologne in 2026, the focus shifts to collaboration with a group of young people from various residential groups of the Karl-Immanuel-Küpper Foundation.

Why you should check it out 

Here, anger is transformed into political demands. Together with the artist “the vacuum cleaner” and Marie Sophie Gottschalk, the young people have launched a process that breaks through the clinic’s walls. During the festival, their posters and demands for justice in mental health flood Cologne’s urban space. Additional posters will be presented at the Schauspiel in Carlsgarten.

Pssst! 

Behind the pseudonym “the vacuum cleaner” is British artist James Leadbitter, who has been creating radical, playful, and often provocative art about mental health for over 20 years. The “Balmy Army” is more than an exhibition. It is a growing community that shows solidarity is the best medicine against a system that makes people sick.