Open Call for Arts Participants: African Objects: Pscyhoactives, Spirituality and Mental Health
Portraits of Recovery
Join us to shape this groundbreaking art project.
Portraits of Recovery invites people from Black, African & Caribbean communities to participate in a unique artistic collaboration with artist Divine Southgate-Smith and Manchester Museum‘s Living Cultures Collection. Participation is open to those with lived experience of mental health and/or in recovery from substance use.
Dates:
- Sat 19 April
- Sat 26 April
- Sat 3 May
- Sat 10 May
- Fri 16 May
- Sat 17 May
Times:
- Arrive: 12.15 pm
- Workshop begins: 12.30 pm
- 30 min break
- Workshop end: 3.30 pm
About the Project
Living in a complex world – our place within it can often feel overwhelming. A need for spiritual nourishment, be that the universe, mother nature, or religion, feels ever more pressing. An absence of personal spirituality can, for some, lead to mental health or substance use issues.
Culturally, the use of plant-based Psychoactives for ancestor worship, and religious or spiritual purposes, within the African diaspora is long known. Contemporary thinking now controversially looks towards Psychoactives for improving our health and well-being.
Over six weeks (from April) and a series of creative workshops, led by artist Divine Southgate-Smith, participants will engage with African objects from Manchester Museum’s Living Cultures collection – uncovering new meanings, histories, and current cultural significance. Working with the objects, you’ll create new, personal, and collective responses through storytelling, discussion, and creative exploration.
Why Get Involved?
- Gain hands-on meaningful experience working with museum collections
- Engage with urgent conversations on spirituality, mental health, and recovery
- Work with a contemporary artist, and learn or brush up on your creative skills
- Meet new people, have new experiences, and develop new supportive networks
- Be part of collaboratively created artworks for showcasing at Manchester Museum in Recoverist Month, September 2025
Interested? Sign up now or find out more by emailing us.
About Portraits of Recovery
Portraits of Recovery is the UK’s only visual arts charity inspiring and supporting people affected by and in recovery from substance use (Recoverists).
Based in Manchester, we are dedicated to inspiring and supporting individuals affected by substance use and those in recovery (Recoverists).
As the UK’s only contemporary visual arts organization working exclusively in this field, we collaborate with leading contemporary artists, individuals in recovery, and recovery communities to showcase the human face of the recovery journey. Our mission is to break down barriers, promote inclusion, and highlight that addiction is a health, social, and cultural issue.
Founded in 2011 by Director Mark Prest, who has his own lived experience with recovery, Portraits of Recovery creates new conversations about addiction and recovery through the lens of contemporary art. We empower those in recovery to become artists and creators, fostering their cultural participation, demystifying contemporary art, and amplifying the voices of an often marginalised community.
