PICTURES: Artwork unveiled at Eden Court in Inverness as part of Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival
Artwork aimed at making mental health as an issue more visible has been unveiled at Eden Court Theatre in Inverness.
The exhibition is among more than 200 events taking place across Scotland as part of this year’s Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival.
This year, the month-long festival is exploring the theme, In/Visible,and aims to shed light on hidden stories rooted in lived experience and to tackle the stigma of mental health.
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The Inverness exhibtion - an annual event - has been curated by Creativity in Care, a community interest company based in the Highlands, and celebrates the value of arts in mental health recovery and wellbeing.
The organisers state: “From self-expression to therapeutic processes, the work often moves, perturbs, motivates and delights audiences.
“The exhibition features a number of inspirational artworks created by individual artists and groups from Caithness, Sutherland, Ross-shire, Skye and Inverness, sharing responses to this year’s theme of In/Visible.”
Other festival events taking place in Inverness include Held on the High Wire, a multimedia performance telling the story of Jenny Qaqundah, an American-born Palestinian writer, cellist, entrepreneur and disability activist.
It tells of Jenny’s near-death experience, sepsis survival, and new life on metal legs and features music by folk/jazz musician Myshkin Warbler.
The performance takes place at The Bike Shed in Grant Street. Merkinch, on 13 October.
A screening of a collection of short films made by people who engage with mental health charity Mikeysline, Creativity in Care, Oxygen Works and the University of the Highlands and Islands will take place at Eden Court on Sunday October 13.
A special preview of a film, Silent Men, by award-winning documentary filmmaker Duncan Cowles will take place at Eden Court on October 24.
Part therapy, part road trip, a deadpan filmmaker asks men how they show their emotions, to help him confront his own struggles with opening up to loved ones.
Other events include a mixed media art session at Eden Court on October 16 and a play, Men Don’t Talk, at Victoria Hall in Cromarty on November 19.
Go to mhfestival to find out more about the festival and programme of events taking place across Scotland.
