Art Safari Highland is a Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival community commission (2021/2)
About the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival
The Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival (SMHAF) is one of Scotland's most diverse cultural events, covering everything from music, film and visual art to theatre, dance, and literature.
It aims to support the arts, explore how engagement in the arts can help prevent mental ill health, and challenge mental health stigma. Led by the Mental Health Foundation, SMHAF combines high artistic quality with strong grassroots support, community engagement and social activism.
By engaging with artists, connecting with communities and forming collaborations, we celebrate the artistic achievements of people with experience of mental health issues, exploring the relationship between creativity and the mind, and promoting positive mental health and wellbeing.
Launched in 2007, SMHAF has grown into one of the largest festivals of its kind in the world, with over 300 events and 25,000 attendees across Scotland each year. Its innovative approach, combining high quality artistic events with community led programming and a social justice agenda, has been replicated internationally.
Led by the Mental Health Foundation, it has since expanded its arts activity into a year round programme, branded Mental Health Arts. This programme is supported by See Me, Scotland’s programme to end mental health stigma, and open funding from Creative Scotland.
The aims of SMHAF are to:
Challenge perceptions
Make connections
Develop audiences
Encourage participation
Create
SMHAF’s Community Commissions are supported by the Baring Foundation.
“There are many good reasons for funding in this area.
Everyone has a right to be creative and to take part in what the arts and culture have to offer.
The arts have long played a role in giving a voice to people with mental health problems, including to challenge aspects of the mental health system. Society is experiencing a shift towards greater understanding and awareness of mental health problems and the arts have a role in this too.
The arts are also a route to recovery, building self-confidence and new skills and they can also simply be pleasurable, relaxing and fun!”
— The Baring Foundation
https://baringfoundation.org.uk
‘Arts Safari Highland’ focus…
Engaging with community members who live within rural settings who do not have access to Arts for Health and Wellbeing activities and who may be marginalised due to their geographical location.
Lived experience of mental health.
Relationship building across the entire project length of one year.
Being innovative and original enough to capture the imagination of people outside of the community involved in the project.
Developing a meaningful legacy for participants and audiences.
Working in a part of Scotland where SMHAF does not already have a significant presence.
Being adaptable to various Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.
