Museu de Imagens do Inconsciente, Psychology and art museum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The Museu de Imagens do Inconsciente is an art museum in Rio de Janeiro dedicated to displaying works created by patients of psychiatric facilities. The collection includes paintings, drawings, sculptures, and other artistic pieces that reveal the creative strength and emotional depth of these makers.

The museum was founded in 1952 by psychiatrist Nise da Silveira, who developed an innovative approach to supporting people through artistic activities. Her work shifted how psychiatric treatment was viewed and demonstrated that creativity could be central to healing and personal growth.

The museum's name comes from the title Nise da Silveira chose for the institution she opened in 1952. Its collection is divided into historical works by patients she treated and contemporary pieces made in the ongoing ateliers, which is why it is called a living museum. The critic Mário Pedrosa called this production "Arte Virgem", while Quirino Campofiorito dismissed it as "primitive art".

The museum occupies part of the Instituto Municipal de Assistência à Saúde Nise da Silveira in Engenho de Dentro, in Rio's North Zone, near the Engenho de Dentro railway and metro station. The collection is divided into historical works by patients treated by Nise da Silveira and contemporary pieces still produced in the institution's ateliers, so what is on view changes.

The collection spans hundreds of thousands of works created over decades by people within psychiatric facilities. This vast body of material reveals extraordinary creative persistence and makes this one of the world's largest archives of its kind.