Exclusive:Summerhall mental health art exhibition facing closure due to cuts slams Edinburgh Festival Fringe unfairness
The project has lost its funding from Edinburgh Integration Joint Board.
A mental health art exhibition facing closure due to cuts has hit out at the unfairness of struggling for a “small” grant in a city that hosts the “biggest and most lucrative arts festival”.
Organisers of Out of Sight Out of Mind, which will run for its 13th year at Edinburgh arts venue Summerhall at the end of October, said it was unfair they were fighting cuts to the event’s small budget while the city is home to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
The exhibition will display around 400 works of art by people struggling with mental health issues. However, it is set to have to shut down after this year following budget cuts by the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board, which has funded the project for 13 years.
It is believed the exhibition needs between £60,000 and £85,000 to continue running.
Pam van de Brug, arts as advocacy manager at charity Caps Independent Advocacy, said the amount was “small” compared to that required by many arts events.
She said: “When we're desperately fighting these cuts, we're doing that during a time where Edinburgh is hosting the largest and most lucrative art festival in the world. But we're having to fight for a really small amount of money, so that people who aren't part of the art world, who don't always have those opportunities, they don't quite fit.
"They may not have the advantages that other people might have, or things that people can use to get themselves in that place where they can really take part in culture."
She added: "We're having to really fight for that while we're here in this cultural capital. It's a really important project and it would be a shame for it to go."
Ms van de Brug said people who had been involved in the exhibition had spoken to the charity about the impact the closure would have on them.
She said: "People have told us that they will be devastated. It can be a reason to leave the house, a way to socialise when socialising is difficult. It can be a way for people to feel like they have a voice, that they can do useful things.”
Ms van de Brug added: "[It is] a way for people to express themselves, sometimes about difficult experiences or emotions, in a way that they are comfortable doing. Art is an effective way to do that. You don’t have to use words or the correct words. Art is a great way to connect with others and share emotions and ideas.”
One artist said: “This exhibition gives me a voice in a world where I often feel voiceless. It’s not just about creating or showing work — it’s about being heard. Out of Sight Out of Mind gives space to the kind of expression that can’t be forced into neat sentences or diagnoses.
“Here, I don’t need to explain myself in ways I can’t. Through art, I speak. Through this exhibition, I am understood.”
The Out of Sight Out of Mind exhibition will run at Summerhall from Wednesdays to Sundays, from October 22 to November 9.
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