September is Recoverist Month in Greater Manchester
Changing the conversation on addiction and recovery
Recoverist = Recovery + Activist
Chemsex, neurodivergence, spirituality and how dance and movement can visually articulate recovery are all on the agenda during Greater Manchester’s second Recoverist Month this September.
Recoverist Month is the UK’s only arts-based awareness event that places people and communities in recovery from substance use centre stage, by increasing visibility and directly supporting the voice of lived experience.
This September, Recoverist Month will see a series of events at venues around the region, including HOME Mcr, The Turnpike Gallery in Wigan, Oldham Library, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester Museum and the Whitworth.
Artists and organisations taking part include Harold Offeh, Fallen Angels Dance Theatre and Venture Arts, an award-winning visual arts organisation which works with learning-disabled and neurodivergent artists.
‘Recoverist’ is a portmanteau word blending recovery and activism and it includes those in recovery, their family, friends, and significant others.
An annual feature for the region’s cultural calendar now in its second year, Recoverist Month is the brainchild of Manchester visual arts organisation Portraits of Recovery (PORe).
Recoverist Month aims to establish itself as a nationally significant, yearly flagship arts & cultural event for recovery communities, paralleling Black History Month and Pride.
All events will be free or pay what you can.
PROGRAMME
Recoverist Month welcomes back artist Harold Offeh, for the second phase of his project called Let’s Talk About Chemsex. An EP featuring audio recordings of shared experiences of chemsex, sound works and music will launch at a ‘listening party’ during Manchester Pride (Wednesday 25 August 2024, 1 – 3 pm, FREE). A gallery takeover of invited queer artists will follow on Sunday 29 September. Both events are at Manchester Art Gallery
Beyond the Surface is an exhibition that profiles 10 years of Fallen Angels Dance Theatre’s work in the borough of Wigan. Its focal point is the newly commissioned work Samadhi, an immersive digital dance, light and sound installation. Playing over multiple screens in a discreet gallery space, the piece aims to bring audiences to the heart of healing journeys experienced by people in recovery. Chester-based Fallen Angels exists to support people in recovery from addiction and those living with a mental health condition to transform their lives through dance, performance and creativity. (Turnpike Gallery, Leigh, Wednesday 25 September-Saturday 23 November 2024)
Also, from Fallen Angels, Transfiguration is a trio of short dance films called I Fall, I Need and We Rise. The trilogy focuses on a series of defining moments in the journey from addiction to recovery. The screenings will be followed by a Q&A, with Paul Bayes Kitcher, co-founder/artistic director Fallen Angels, director Dan Thorburn and playwright/actor Eve Steele. Leon Clowes from Performing Recovery magazine comperes. (HOME theatre 2, Friday 6 September 2024 6-7.30 pm Pay as you can).
Will Belshah is a neurodivergent queer artist, working predominantly with paint. During a speaker-informed discussion about the intersectionality between neurodiversity, substance use and artistic practice, the audience will be invited to take part in a shared creative response. Invited speakers for Portraits of Recovery + Venture Arts in Dialogue: Spaces Between include Amanda Sutton, director of Venture Arts, Lisa Williams, lecturer in criminology, University of Manchester and Dominic Pillai, curator of social engagement at PORe (HOME event space, Saturday 21 September 1-3 pm, age guidance 18+ FREE).
Sober Curiosity is a series of newly commissioned video monologues by Scott James AKA certigrammer. Taking to the streets of Greater Manchester, the roving filmmaker will stop people for impromptu conversations around sober curiosity as a lifestyle choice. The first stop will be at Manchester Pride then after Trafford, Tameside, Bury and Stockport. New content will be added throughout the month of September, available on PORe’s website and social media channels and shared in collaboration with Greater Manchester’s only alcohol-free, Love From.
IZZAT: South Asian Women & Substance Use is an invited speaker presentation and discussion exploring the unique barriers South Asian women face in accessing support for substance use. Speaking will be Dr Sarah Fox from the Substance Use and Associated Behaviors research group (SUAB) at Manchester Metropolitan University, whose research resulted in the publication of the book Alcohol, Izzat and Me, recovery advocate Aunee Bhogaita AKA Brown Girl in a Bottle, who has lived experience of sexual violence and substance use and Kim Kaur and Poonum Chauhan of SAFIR* (South Asian Females in Recovery). It will be followed by a tour of the Museum’s multilingual South Asian Gallery by lead curator Nusrat Ahmed (Manchester Museum Kanaris lecture room, Wednesday 11 September 2024 6-8 pm FREE).
Led by Dr Njabulo Chipangura, curator of living cultures at Manchester Museum, African Objects: Psychoactives and Spirituality offers a rare chance to handle cultural heritage objects that are used for spiritual purposes. Ordinarily confined to the museum basement, the historical items will be explored through the lens of addiction recovery. (Manchester Museum research studio, Saturday 14 September 2024 2-4 pm FREE).
The Recoverist Curators: Cabinet of Curiosities presents a back catalogue of work by Portraits of Recovery since 2011, including ephemera, poetry and the Recoverist Manifesto. In conversation with work from the Whitworth Art Gallery’s own collections, both speak to substance use and recovery. Content has been selected by the Recoverist Curators, a group of people in recovery from substance use. Delving into Whitworth’s collection, the group will re-interpret selected artworks through a Recoverist lens, helping to challenge societal stigma by rewriting the narrative. The developmental start of a partnership led by PORe with the Whitworth will see the Recoverist Curators develop an exhibition and conference in 2025 (from Sunday 1 September 2024, Whitworth Art Gallery FREE).
The Political History of Smack and Crack (reading) chronicles the heroin epidemic of the Thatcher era through the lens of two Manchester users, who are also lovers. Inspired by playwright Ed Edwards’ own experiences in jail and rehab, the story follows the lives of Mandy and Neil, from the Moss Side riots of 1981 to the present day. Winner of Summerhall’s Lustrum award in 2018 and finalist in Theatre503’s playwriting award in 2017. NB this is a rehearsed reading by two professional actors (Wednesday 18 September 2024 6-7.30 pm, Oldham Library, Pay as You Can).
Mark Prest, director, PORe, said: “PORe’s work is about increasing access and opportunity to the transformational power of the arts and culture. Last year’s inaugural Recoverist Month engaged with in-person audiences of 4,175 and online audiences of 87,779. This demonstrates a very real appetite for the work that we aim to build on this year.
“We only need to look at how the queer, disabled, global communities and women’s art movements have taken back control through their cultural production. We advocate this approach for the recovery community. ”
Jen Cleary, director Northwest, Arts Council England said: “We know the many health and social benefits that people can gain from engaging with and taking part in creative activity, and so I’m pleased to see Recoverist Month return and partnering with so many arts organisations based in the Northwest.
“By supporting those in the recovery community to discover how the arts and culture can help, Portraits of Recovery is at the forefront of aiming to change the conversation on addiction and recovery. We’re proud to support Portraits of Recovery as one of our National Portfolio Organisations and I’m sure that the events will be valued by those that attend.”
Dave Moutrey, director of culture and creative industries, Manchester City Council, said:
“Recoverist Month is an important addition to our annual cultural calendar. It sits perfectly at the intersection of art and activism that at the same time opens-up artistic opportunity for artists and people in recovery. Above all the work is interesting and vital.”
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said:
“It is great to see the return of Recoverist Month in Greater Manchester and I am a strong believer that by using the arts we can successfully send a strong message to our communities that recovery is an achievable goal, as well as combat the stigma attached to addiction to drugs and alcohol.
“In Greater Manchester, we help to support and coordinate local authority commissioners to ensure high quality drug and alcohol treatment provision. Support is available to all our residents at all stages of their recovery journey. Projects such as Recoverist Month can play a massive part in helping people to maintain their recovery, as well as support others who are still on a journey towards recovery.”
About Recoverist Month
Recoverist Month celebrates the aspirational hopes, desires, fears, and dreams of Greater Manchester people, and communities in recovery from addiction. Lived experience is centre stage, promoting positive health messaging and framing recovery as a viable lifestyle choice.
Recoverist Month September 2024 is led and delivered by Portraits of Recovery.
Partners and venues include:
