We sat down with one of our newest recruits, Dominic Pillai, Curator of Social Engagement at Portraits of Recovery to find out more about his previous work, and his vision for Portraits of Recovery.
Can you tell us a bit about your background and what drew you to this organization? What excites you most about joining the team?
With a background in filmmaking, I started as a workshop facilitator on projects such as the BFI Film Academy. Through working with charities, such as Mind, I moved into community arts, creatively facilitating various marginalised groups, particularly people with disabilities, neurodiversity and mental health issues. Curation has always been a prominent aspect of my creative practice, whether this be film screenings, live music or radio programmes, so I wanted to move into this area professionally, which this role has allowed me to do.
As you step into this new role, what is your vision for the future of Portraits of Recovery? Are there any specific projects or themes you’re eager to explore through your curation?
As this is a new role within the organisation it will continuously evolve, and I am excited by the potential for innovation and the ability to shape the job around my skillset. As I am not originally from Manchester, most of my creative contacts exist elsewhere, so I am keen to nurture these relationships and develop partnerships which will allow Portraits of Recovery to connect and collaborate with creative recovery communities on a more national and international scale.
Portraits of Recovery is known for its unique intersection of art and recovery. How do you plan to further develop this connection in your curation? What role do you believe art plays in the recovery process?
One of the key aspects that drew me to Portraits of Recovery was its intersectional approach to art and recovery, as it acknowledges that people’s recovery journey is informed by their own unique lived experiences. As a neurodiverse person of colour with a long-term mental health condition and lived experience of recovery, I am acutely aware that many areas of the community are often excluded from the recovery narrative, which Portraits of Recovery aims to readdress through its work. Being a practising artist has been an essential part of my recovery, and I am excited about the prospect of facilitating the creative practice of other people in recovery
How would you describe your curatorial approach? Do you have a particular philosophy or method that guides how you select and present works within the context of recovery?
I have always been interested in juxtaposition and the creative implications of placing one artwork next to another. The positioning of each placement not only allows for dialogue between artworks but also creates discourse on larger themes. Recovery is such a vast and nuanced subject that it can be explored in a multitude of ways. For me, curation is the activation of space, physical or metaphysical, to engage with ideas through a sensory experience
Community engagement is a key aspect of Portraits of Recovery’s mission. How do you plan to involve the local community in your curatorial work? Are there any new initiatives or collaborations on the horizon?
One of the projects I manage is Recoverist Culture Fix, a programme of regular, specially curated cultural events. There are so many barriers to accessing and engaging with the arts, so Recoverist Culture Fix is a way for people in recovery to meet like-minded people and enjoy various cultural experiences. It is an audience development project with the aim of engaging with, and diversifying, arts and culture within our Recoverist community.
The themes explored by Portraits of Recovery are often deeply personal and sensitive. How do you approach curating such works in a way that honours the artists’ experiences while also being mindful of the audience’s reception?
In 12-step programs, anonymity is fundamentally important because, due to the stigma of addiction, breaking this can have a detrimental impact on people’s lives. Although Portraits of Recovery’s ethos is around visibility, we also must respect people’s choices around their anonymity, which can be a bit of a tightrope act. When I started this job, I had to come to terms with the fact that being in recovery would be out in the open. There was no external pressure to out myself as a recovering addict, but I felt that it was important that our participants know that I am part of the community so they would feel more comfortable working with me. A big part of facilitating a group is building trust, and being open about my recovery journey allows this to happen much quicker, so that within projects we can achieve more.
Recovery is a journey that affects people from all walks of life. How do you intend to ensure that a diverse range of voices and experiences are represented in the exhibitions and projects you curate?
As I mentioned before, I believe that intersectionality is an essential part of recovery discourse. Being trained in visual anthropology taught me the importance of communities being able to use creative practice to tell their own stories and Portraits of Recovery takes the same approach. All our projects are participant-led, meaning that everything we do is ‘with’ rather than ‘for’ people in recovery. This is always taken into consideration when conceiving projects and it is the ones that explore hidden narratives and unheard voices that are the most thought-provoking and exciting to work on.
Can you share any upcoming exhibitions or projects you’re particularly excited about? How do you plan to innovate or bring new perspectives to the exhibitions at Portraits of Recovery?
I am currently working on Recoverist Curators, a project I am co-leading with The Whitworth, where we will be working with participants to delve into the gallery’s extensive collection to curate a year-long exhibition that reinterprets and reframes the artwork through the lens of recovery. The project has provoked some fascinating discussions around the problematic representation of addiction in arts and culture and how the exhibition can challenge this. What I find particularly exciting is that the group have the opportunity to creatively respond to the work. Something that became very evident was the lack of diversity within The Whitworth’s collection and curating this exhibition is an opportunity to not only address this but fill in the gaps with the voices that are missing. I am interested in the idea of disrupting traditional art spaces because they can often feel inaccessible and non-inclusive, which is very much in line with Portraits of Recovery’s activist approach to arts and recovery.
Building relationships with artists is crucial for a curator. How do you plan to work with artists to ensure their stories and perspectives are authentically represented? What do you look for when selecting artists to work with?
There is a large proportion of artists that are in recovery, more than most people realise, and for them, creativity is an essential part of their recovery journey. It gives meaning and purpose to their lives; it gets them up in the morning and keeps them clean. Putting down substances is only the first part of recovery, it’s where you choose to channel addictive behaviour that is key, and I believe creativity is a more positive, less destructive thing to be addicted to. I am fortunate to know many extremely talented people in recovery and through Portraits of Recovery I will be developing projects that provide a platform for artists to progress into the next stage of their practice.
As you settle into your new role, what are your long-term goals for Portraits of Recovery? How do you see the organization evolving under your curatorship, and what impact do you hope to make within the community and beyond?
Having this job is a dream come true. It has made me grateful to be an addict because, if I weren’t an addict, I wouldn’t have this incredible job. I have experienced a lot of emotional pain, and addiction took me to some very dark places, but all of it was worth it because every experience has brought me to this point in my life. It is hard work and, like my recovery, I don’t get it right every day but I will always give it my best. Also, as a role of this kind has never existed before, I’m still trying to figure out what the job is as I go along, and this will be in continual flux. But this is extremely exciting because it means I will always be at the forefront of innovative, groundbreaking work. People in recovery have so much to offer the world, and I hope that in my role as a curator, I can help to facilitate positive change.
Thank you Dominic for speaking with us. To find out more about the sorts of events and exhibitions that Dominic will be bringing to the public, check out our Projects page.