Every year the groups involved in planning the national Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival come together to select a new theme for the festival.
Comfort and Disturb
Our 2025 festival theme, Comfort and Disturb, references the famous Cesar A Cruz quote about art as activism, the idea that “art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable”. It is a simple expression of the power of art both to challenge and to console, often having a transformative effect on people and societies.
Art does not have to be activism, of course. It can be a source of comfort for everyone and anyone who wants it. Art can also disturb with no agenda other than creating an emotional reaction. In this year’s festival, we are setting out to explore the things that comfort and disturb us, including the fact that what one person finds comforting can be disturbing for someone else, and vice versa. For example, a story about someone facing prejudice or hatred might be comforting to others who have experienced something similar because it makes them feel seen and understood, but also disturbing to people who would prefer not to have to think about that.
Being creative can involve choosing whether to comfort or disturb. “Art is a way of making feelings happen,” write Brian Eno and Bette A in a new book, What Art Does. Those feelings can be comforting ones – hope, joy, relief, a sense of being less alone – or uncomfortable ones such as sadness or anger. Most of us probably prefer a mix of both. If art leans too heavily towards comfort it can feel cloying and sentimental and not comforting at all. But if it is too disturbing it can be harmful to our mental health. Finding the right balance is a creative challenge. Art is often most effective when it is comforting and disturbing at the same time.
The Cruz quote, though, argues that who we comfort or disturb is crucial, that art should challenge privilege, power and complacency at the same time as bringing solace to those who most need it. It’s an idea rooted in a lifetime of activism. Cruz took part in two high profile hunger strikes, was arrested for protesting against police brutality against Rodney King, and is best known for his work advocating against gang violence). The Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival is also rooted in activism. Our festival has always challenged stigma and prejudice about mental health, and we continue to provide a platform for often marginalised artists to tell their own mental health stories in their own way.
We hope you will join us in October to feel comforted, disturbed, and everything in between.