Published: 13 Apr 2021
Wellbeing of the Woods
The Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival (SMHAF) is to return for its 15th year in May, exploring the theme of ‘Normality?’ with a wide-ranging programme of online and outdoor events by people all over Scotland – from Dumfries and Galloway to the Highlands.
What is ‘normality’? A whole year of lockdown has turned the world upside down, forcing us to re-evaluate what we think of as ‘normal’ life and ‘normal’ behaviour. Should things go ‘back to normal’ afterwards? Was the way we lived before ‘normal’ or was it damaging to our mental health? And if life does go ‘back to normal’, who is likely to be excluded from that?
In its 15th year, the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival remains as vital and relevant as ever, with studies worldwide suggesting that Covid-19, and the resultant global lockdown, has led to a crisis in mental health as well as physical health. It is likely that we will be witnessing and processing the mental health impact for to come, due to the sheer number of difficult and stressful situations people have been put through since the beginning of 2020 – the loss of loved ones, prolonged isolation, financial difficulties, or having their whole life plans suddenly disrupted in various other ways.
SMHAF is one of Scotland’s biggest, most diverse festivals. Its unique approach – programmed from the grassroots up by a team of regional co-ordinators all across the country, in combination with a film and performance programme curated by the Mental Health Foundation – ensures it connects with audiences that other arts festivals often struggle to reach.
This year’s online SMHAF programme is once again created by regional co-ordinators across Scotland as well as SMHAF’s central team. Highlights include:
Things to see from the International Film Competition will be showcased online via INDY On Demand from 3-23 May. Individual titles will be available for one week each on a pay what you can basis and festival passes are available at accessible prices to give audiences access to all the titles. All screenings will include a live discussion with filmmakers and other invited guests.
This year’s programme includes feature films from Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt and Georgia, including one European premiere and three UK premieres. Highlights include:
Neighbors
Short film programmes will explore Grief, Nature, Normality?, and Lived Experience. Highlights include:
A Glimpse. Photo Credit: Robert Pereira Hind
The film programme will also include a series of workshops. These will include:
Gail Aldam, arts and events manager for the Mental Health Foundation, said: “This is our second online festival, and will be on a bigger and more ambitious scale than our programme in May 2020, as well as building on much of what we have learned during a year of global lockdown. Every year our festival theme is decided through a voting process by our team of regional co-ordinators across Scotland and ‘Normality?’ was a clear favourite this year. The choice was inspired by a wave of media stories during lockdown that constantly referred to people adjusting to ‘the new normal’ or a desire for society to ‘return to normal’. We want to challenge the value judgements often associated with the words ‘normal’ and ‘normality’. What does ‘normality’ mean? And who is excluded from that? We’re really looking forward to finding out how artists and events organisers all across Scotland respond to this theme.”
Letter To My Mother, Amina Maher
The Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival is one of Scotland's most striking and provocative cultural events, encompassing music, film, visual art, performing arts, dance, and literature. The annual Festival takes place in venues across Scotland throughout May (previously October), aiming to support the arts and challenge preconceived ideas about mental health. By engaging artists, connecting with communities and forming collaborations, the Festival celebrates the artistic achievements of people with experience of mental health problems, explores the relationship between creativity and the mind, and promotes positive mental health and wellbeing. www.mhfestival.com.
Partners: The Festival is led by the Mental Health Foundation in association with the following national partners: Creative Scotland; See Me, Scotland’s programme to end mental health stigma; Thrive Edinburgh; Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership; NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and The List. The Festival is also supported by hundreds of arts, community and public organisations across Scotland.
The Mental Health Foundation is the UK’s charity for everyone’s mental health. With prevention at the heart of what we do, we aim to find and address the sources of mental health problems so that people and communities can thrive. The Foundation is a UK charity that relies on public donations and grant funding to deliver its work. The Foundation is proud of the vital role it plays in hosting, developing and managing the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival. www.mentalhealth.org.uk
For further information please contact Claire Fleming at cfleming@mentalhealth.org.uk, Andrew Eaton-Lewis at aeaton-lewis@mentalhealth.org.uk or Peter Jahn at pjahn@mentalhealth.org.uk. You can also follow the festival at www.facebook.com/mentalhealtharts and www.twitter.com/mh_arts.