Expect dance, music, theatre, burlesque, spoken word and comedy.
Now in its 11th year, BEDLAM is an arts and wellbeing partnership, raising awareness of mental health through a diverse programme of visual arts, film, spoken word, dance, music, theatre, live performance and workshops in the community. BEDLAM partners are Sampad, Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation, MAC Birmingham, Birmingham Rep and the Red Earth Collective.
The BEDLAM Showcase is a celebration of the arts, mental health and wellbeing. Expect dance, music, theatre, burlesque, spoken word and comedy all exploring and encouraging conversations around mental health. The programme for each evening can be found here.
The BEDLAM Exhibition aims to showcase the work that participants have produced through the BEDLAM programme in communities across Birmingham working with crafts, visual arts, dance, drama, photography and pottery. Throughout the year each BEDLAM programme partner has been delivering projects through a range of creative approaches all supporting mental health and wellbeing.
Steve Ball, BEDLAM co-producer, said: “The Showcase will be the culmination of different projects the arts partners involved in BEDLAM have been working on, many with mental health service users. All of the work relates to arts and mental health and seeks to raise awareness and reduce stigma around mental health with all sections of the community.”
“The Showcase and exhibition are so important,” said Sabra Khan, BEDLAM co-producer, “For some people, they just want to come along and take part in the activities and don’t want to share anything, they just want to take it home, and that’s fine. But other people are really proud to share their work whether on stage or in the exhibition with their community, their friends, their family and other members of the public and that helps to raise self-esteem and confidence in yourself which is a really important part of developing resilience.”
Sabra added, “For me, the events and Showcases are about developing empathy amongst audiences, being able to put yourself in somebody else’s shoes and to be able to learn what that experience might mean for someone else and how it might affect their lives”.