Gathering

SMHAF 2022 opens with a day to celebrate and bring together our festival community. 

After two years of lockdown, we are excited to be bringing people back together, while also exploring how we can gather in a more inclusive way.

Gathering will feature live events at the CCA: Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow plus an online programme, with complementary events in Edinburgh, Ayrshire and Inverness. 

Gathering on Film

2-3.45pm

Film: Gather together to watch a selection of warm and uplifting films on the big screen on our opening day. We showcase community-based projects which have inspired hope during the pandemic, alongside shorts by local and international filmmakers expressing the importance of connection for our wellbeing. 

City of Hope, Hannah Currie, Scotland, 16m, English
From Bafta winning director Hannah Currie, City of Hope explores the legacy of COP26 through the lens of Glasgow's local communities with public art sculptures sparking conversations of future hope.

A View Fae the Windae, Annemarie Strain, Scotland 17m, English
Developed through Zoom sessions as part of a project with In Cahootz Creative Citizen’s group, A View Fae the Windae captures the importance of staying connected with community and family as a means of improving mental health.

Love in the time of Quarantine, Millefiore Clarkes, Canada, 10m, English
Reflecting on the nature of love and how humans stayed connected during Covid-19, Millefiore Clarkes brings together a collage of stories highlighting the importance of love during pandemic isolation.

I Miss Hugs, Ana Songel, Scotland, 8m, English
A beautifully crafted animation of a single parent and her only daughter who must create new pathways for connection and affection after the daughter leaves home and migrates to another country.

The Shared Light, Bibo Keeley, Brian Keeley, Scotland, 23m, English
Artist Bibo Keeley recounts, in her contemporaneous diaries of 2013, the unbearable uncertainty during months of supporting her partner's struggle to survive in intensive care. The Shared Light reflects on the couple's shared past and determination for a future together.
Content Notes: Depictions of alcohol use, Images of surgical equipment and blood

This screening includes an in-person discussion with Ana Songel (I Miss Hugs) and Annmarie Strain (A View Fae the Windae).

Mental Health Arts Network: How Do We Gather?

4-5pm

Discussion: What should lockdown teach us about how we gather? Join us for an insightful conversation about how prejudice, illness, anxiety and other factors impact on our ability to gather, and what we should do about it. The discussion will bring together three recipients of this year’s SMHAF Gather artist commission – Jo Chukaulim, Drew Taylor-Wilson and Bibo & Brian Keeley.

Gathering on Stage

5-6.30pm

Music, Performance: Join us for a showcase of work commissioned by SMHAF during lockdown and highlights from the upcoming programme, featuring:

• Live music by Djana Gabrielle, singer-songwriter (recipient of 2021 SMHAF My Normality commission)
• Live music by 2 Stoned Birds, spoken word and music from Dundee (recipients of 2021 SMHAF My Normality commission)
• Live performance by Skye Loneragan, creator of Though This Be Madness (touring Scotland as part of SMHAF 2022)
• Film premiere by Catherine Grosvenor (recipient of 2022 SMHAF Gather artist commission)
• Film premiere by Bibo & Brian Keeley (recipient of 2022 SMHAF Gather artist commission)
• The premiere of A Way From Rage, a special recording and film as a tribute to the late Beldina Odenyo Onassis (Heir of the Cursed). The song, recorded by Kathryn Joseph, is a cover of a song that Beldina wrote for the Mental Health Foundation’s 70th anniversary in 2019. Adura Onashile and Laura Cameron-Lewis have also collaborated on a film to accompany the song. Watch it for the first time during this event, and find out more about the project here.