See Me Scotland presents work from a range of visual artists that encourage dialogue to end mental health stigma and discrimination.

Following another sell-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe, Angela Barnes is back with her brand new show Rose-Tinted. With stand up and stories, Angela is trying, really trying, to look on the bright side of life.

We are members of the LGBTQ community who have come together in Glasgow to communicate about our experiences with mental health. This exhibition, in collaboration with LGBT Health and Wellbeing, explores what belonging looks like for us and why it is important. Come and take part in the conversation.

40 (ish) sexy (ish), musical (ish), Bipolar (ish) - no she is definitely Bipolar. Australian singing sex-pot comedian Amanda Jane Pritchard tackles and tickles with songs and stories in this new show written specifically for this year's Festival. (Insert review). Oh hang on, there are some rather good reviews.

‘Amanda isn’t afraid of the dark corners. In fact, she tickles it until we all piss ourselves laughing!‘ – Nick @edfringe

‘OMFG !!!! This bitch is NUTS …… I could not stop laughing. Non Stop Brilliance A MUST SEE! – Terri @edfringe

‘This is one funny lady …. Amanda is the female answer to Kevin Bloody Wilson …… very funny, hilarious songs we were singing one on the train home lol . A Must See !‘ – Sally @edfringe

“I saw Amanda in Melbourne and fell in love” – Hamish (in Melbourne) via his friend Mark (in Edinburgh) on instagram

“@_amanda_jane you were FAB!” – Wendy Harmer, legendary Australian comedian, Broadcaster, ABC Sydney

The Changing Minds mental health group invite you to our drop-in session to tell you more about our group over tea and sandwiches. All in a safe space with a friendly group of people affected by mental health.

Includes An Open Door, winner of the Community Award at SMHAF 2019. Followed by a Q&A with filmmakers and documentary subjects, including An Open Door director Aoise Tutty. 

At Leverndale, we connect meaningfully in creative pursuits with community partners, volunteers and artists to produce hopeful, meaningful and interesting collaborative art. This year’s event celebrates how we connect to art and how art connects us to others and our environment.

A day of discussions, presentations and workshops that consider, question and reflect upon failure. Culminating in a work in progress sharing of Epic Fail, the latest performance from SMHAF Associate Artist Emma Jayne Park. Ideal for anyone who has ever failed!

Includes Model Childhood, winner of Best Personal Narrative, and Asylum, winner of the Voices of Experience Award, at SMHAF 2019. Followed by a Q&A with fillmmakers, including Tim Mercier and Jefta Varwijk. 

Featuring I Love You, Best Short Drama winner at SMHAF 2019. Followed by a Q&A with fillmmakers, including Victoria Thompson.

by Wildcard Theatre

Winner, Mental Health Fringe Award 2018

‘We are a blip. A speck of dust.
To be wiped off the face of time
like you might a bike chain's rust.
But to each of us,
we are everything'

Follow Jessie through gigs, parties, city streets and warehouses, journeying from Leeds to London, on a quest to find her mother.

Electrolyte is a multi-award winning piece of gig theatre that powerfully explores mental health for a contemporary audience. Written in spoken word poetry and underscored by original music ranging from “blasts of sound to lyrical sweetness” (★★★★★ The Scotsman), this exhilarating and powerful show is performed by six multi-instrumentalists who seamlessly integrate live music with expert storytelling.

Electrolyte won the 2018 Mental Health Fringe Award, a prize founded by the Mental Health Foundation in recognition of the most outstanding show exploring mental health at the Edinburgh Fringe. It also won The Stepladder Award, The LET Award, The Voice Mag Pick of The Fringe Award and the Pleasance Best Newcomer Award 2018. 

We are delighted to welcome Electrolyte back to Scotland for a week of dates as part of a two-month tour of the UK and Ireland, also supported by the Mental Health Foundation.

Electrolyte’s dates at the Tron Theatre are presented in association with Mayfesto.

There will be post-show discussions on Tuesday 14 May and Wednesday 15 May.

An informal work in progress sharing of Epic Fail, the latest performance from SMHAF Associate Artist Emma Jayne Park. You are invited to laugh, applaud, support and commiserate with a group of highly skilled performers who are destined to fail!

Followed by a discussion by Claire Coia and Tony Lewis from the Open Museum and Dr Cheryl McGeachan from the University of Glasgow about the Art Extraordinary collection and Scottish outsider art. 

Winner of the Anti-Stigma Award at SMHAF 2019. Followed by a Skype Q&A with Orlando von Einsiedel.

What are children communicating about their inner worlds through mess, slime and potions? We explore mess making, presenting case studies and exploring attachment theory through our current work with children and young people in our Kinnections programme. Led by Drama Therapist Sarah Bradley and Art Therapist Liz Young.

Aimed at engaging young minds in mental health matters, these short films explore wellbeing, worries and emotions in creative and colourful ways.

SMHAF is delighted to be supporting the Scotland-wide release of Final Ascent: The Legend of Hamish MacInnes.

SMHAF is delighted to be supporting the Scotland-wide release of Final Ascent: The Legend of Hamish MacInnes, including hosting discussions with director Robbie Fraser at CCA, Filmhouse, An Lanntair and Eden Court.

A multidiscplinary performance exploring grief by Jassy Earl Jassy Earl and Chloë Smith.

Created by Luke Pell and performed by an eclectic group of dance and performance artists with original music, In the Ink Dark collects and explores different people’s experiences of loss through dance, design and poetry.

Join us for our annual awards ceremony at the CCA, as we honour the very best submissions to our international film competition.

Winner of the Best Feature Documentary award at SMHAF 2019. The screening is followed by a Q&A with director Iain Cunningham, Catharine Carver from Action on Postpartum Psychosis and Clare Thompson from the Maternal Mental Health Alliance.

This interactive workshop has been designed by KIN, an arts collective of young people aged 14-25 years old who have experience of having a family member in prison. It explores issues of family imprisonment through a variety of creative exercises and role play. Booking essential.

A compelling tale of love, dedication and dependence, this intimate documentary focuses on the dysfunctional relationship between a filmmaker and his mentally ill mother.

Artist Emily Furneaux speaks to Davey Shields of MenTalkHealth about her festival project She stepped backwards in front of the words behind her, in relation to the wider components of understanding and navigating personal experiences of mental health.

Fun, inclusive drumming sessions focused on mental health and wellbeing. Come along for the chance to meet new people and create music together. Sessions are led by Ghanaian musician Gameli Tordzro and a team of professionally trained music practitioners.

Structural violence leads to personal trauma in this intimate documentary, which tells the story of a single family living in one of Rio’s largest favelas.

Come along to Kelvingrove Museum to experience a family-friendly day of celebration, with events exploring diversity, mental wellbeing and this year’s festival theme of Connected.

Join us for an evening filled with music, comedy, poetry and connectedness. Performers, turn up on the night with your instruments and a song in your heart. All welcome.

Includes On Exile, fragments in search of meaning, winner of Best Experimental Film at SMHAF 2019. Followed by a Q&A with On Exile director José Carlos Teixeira.

UK Premiere

Veronika Raila can neither walk nor speak yet invites us into her captivating world in this poetic essay film.

Includes Herman Brown is Feeling Down, winner of Best Animation at SMHAF 2019. Followed by a Q&A with Jacob Topen, Lucy Joan Barnes, Kirsty Strain, Steven Fraser, Sophia Carr-Gomm, Gordon Collins, Linda McDonald Cairns and Dan Castro.

A participatory artwork in the form of an audio tour in the city of Glasgow conjuring artist Emily Furneaux’s own experiences of slipping into a state of psychosis. Map and audio available to collect throughout the festival. On the final day, live happenings and occurrences will be integrated within the tour.

Hosted by Ian Rankin 

Music by Emma Pollock

The Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival’s Writing Awards, in partnership with Bipolar Scotland, is one of SMHAF’s most enduring successes. An opportunity for first time writers to be published alongside established names, the ceremony is often where we discover what our festival is really about, as writers from across Scotland and further afield take inspiration from this year’s theme in poignant, powerful, personal and often ingenious and surprising ways.

This year the evening is hosted by best-selling author Ian Rankin and will open with a short set by one of Scotland’s top singer-songwriters, Emma Pollock. Our ten shortlisted writers will read from their work, before the awards presentation and a drinks reception.

The SMHAF Writing Awards will also see the launch of 70 Stories, a year-long project to mark the 70th anniversary of the Mental Health Foundation. 70 Stories will connect pieces from our writing competition, stories from the first 13 years of SMHAF, and more to create a compelling portrait of mental health in 2019.

Followed by a conversation with Paul Michael Henry, Angie Dight  of Mischief La Bas and Dr Amy Chandler of the University of Edinburgh.

Features two award winners at SMHAF 2019, for Best Mid-length Documentary and Best Short Documentary. Followed by a Q&A with We Are All Here director Hannah Currie and clinical psychologist Dr Simon Stuart. 

TRACE explores the long-term impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences, particularly on mental health. Using puppets, it tells a story of the child's incomprehension, the impact of survival and tracing back through memories to untangle their impact. This work-in-progress will showcase short clips from the show and be followed by a discussion with creator Abi Pirani. For ages 16+.

A devising solo-aerial theatre performance reimagining Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night through the eyes of Viola, this piece blends contemporary circus, dance and theatre with music and engaging multimedia to investigate depression, anxiety and isolation with movement.

An opportunity to have a one-to-one conversation in a quiet space with some of our award-winning filmmakers: Iain Cunningham, Hannah Currie, Victoria Thompson, José Carlos Teixeira and Aoise Tutty.

This feel good woodland photo walk will take notice of spring beginnings, capturing beautiful blossoms and tree canopies. Try new techniques to explore creativity, the mind and the great outdoors, sharing tea and healthy treats under the trees. You can use our weatherproof cameras but feel free to bring your own equipment. All abilities welcome. Booking essential. 

This event is being provided in partnership with Scottish Forestry (formerly Forestry Commission Scotland) and Open Aye.

The Wellbeing Of the Woods Project (The WOW Project) has been running wellbeing-enhancing, urban forest based participatory photography workshops, to diverse groups in Glasgow across the seasons in 2017 -2019. Over 50 people from 16 countries have taken part so far. This exhibition showcases some of the thoughts and ideas from participants on how creativity in the woods aids wellbeing.

Provided in partnership with Scottish Forestry (formerly Forestry Commission Scotland) and Open Aye.