An international exhibition and partnership program on mental health and the arts, organised and curated jointly by Artlink Central and Chinese health and wellbeing charity A Perch for the Thorn Birds. Exhibition funded by the British Council.
ABOUT FLYWAY
'Flyway' is a programme and accompanying art exhibition using arts to promote mental health and wellbeing, featuring work by Scottish and Chinese artists. The programme is organised jointly by A Perch for Thorn Birds（刺鸟栖息地）and Artlink Central（艺术共链·中央区）, non-profit organisations in China and Scotland, and funded by the British Council. Submissions were open to professional and amateur artists and we encouraged work from people with lived experience of mental health.
The programme includes online and physical exhibition of selected works from August 2021 in both China and Scotland, and a series of talks and activities, to promote creativity and mental health awareness, and to facilitate an open discussion on the topic between the two nations. The physical exhibition in Shanghai (Wisdom Bay), China, opens from the 31st of July until the 31st of August 2021. The exhibition in Scotland, at Forth Valley Royal Hospital, will be open from the 10th of August until the 30th of September 2021. In parallel with the physical exhibition, there is an online exhibition - launching on the 4th of August 2021, and hosted on our Flickr account; this features a larger number of pieces that for space and sensitivity issues we were not able to include in the physical exhibition.
The exhibition features artwork from a diverse range of international artists, from amateurs to professionals, as well as organisations working in the field of mental health and arts.
AMONG THE FEATURED ARTISTS/GROUPS ARE
Catherine Smith; Elaine Wilson; Fiona Tong; Holly Macdonald; Jenny Mason; Sharon Quigley; Karen Maxted; Karene Wedekind; Kayleigh Czajka; The Kirkwood Brothers; Laura Macpherson; Lou Carberry; Maria McCavana; Mia Middleton; Sharon Ferris McGregor; Tracy Dougall; Wendy Shields; Reachout With Arts in Mind; Artspace (in collaboration with Kate Henderson); Cracks; Lei Wang; Carol Wu; CandleX and Pere Ibanez; Tianyi Yan; Cec; Samuel; Jin Sun-wen; Yilan Wang; Ines Cui; Honglin Zhu.
We aim to create a safe and open space to discuss mental health in a way that welcomes everyone who wishes to express and listen. There is a possibility to interact with the online exhibition by ‘liking’ the images or adding comments. We very much encourage our audience to join the conversation, but please always be kind and respectful.
Due to the nature of the topic, some of the images may be triggering or upsetting, these have been marked as ‘Restricted’ on the online exhibition to provide fair warning.
Chinese version (short)
“飞路Flyway中英精神健康艺术展”是以精神健康公共教育为目的公益艺术展览。该项目获得中英文化连线基金资助，由中国的非营利组织刺鸟栖息地（A Perch for Thorn Birds）和英国的社会企业Artlink Central（艺术共链·中央区）联合举办，集中展示来自中国和英国苏格兰地区的精神健康主题艺术创作。活动向职业艺术家和素人创作者开放，同时积极鼓励有精神困扰人士参与投稿并为有需要人士提供小额资助。项目计划于2021年8月在中国上海和苏格兰福特谷皇家医院就精选作品进行线上线下展览，同期举办一系列活动，促进行业交流，激发公众创造力，提高社会精神健康意识。“飞路Flyway”旨在创造一个安全开放的精神健康话题讨论场所，期待每一个愿意讲述和聆听的人。
