inclusive, which is very much in line with Portraits of Recovery’ s activist approach.
The exhibition pairs major artworks alongside deeply personal interpretation panels. You, for instance, see your former self in a Tillmans photograph of friends outside a Berlin club. Anastasia finds the joy of her recovery in a Hockney still life. How do you navigate sharing these personal testimonies and exploring such vulnerability?
It’ s about doing things‘ with’ people in recovery, not‘ about’ them. Being trained in visual anthropology taught me the importance of communities using creative practice to tell their own stories. The project sparked fascinating discussions around how substance use is often problematically represented in culture – and how we could rewrite that stigmatised narrative. What excited me most was that the curators didn’ t just select work; they wrote interpretations examining each piece through the lens of their own lived experience. Recovery is vast and can be explored in many ways. Those interpretation panels aren’ t just labels – they’ re an interventionist reframing. You may have seen that Bacon before, but you haven’ t seen it through these eyes.
‘ Being trained in visual anthropology taught me the importance of communities using creative practice to tell their own stories.’
The Whitworth has committed to preserving the curators’ interpretations in their database and hosting AA meetings in the gallery. That feels like more than just an exhibition – it’ s an institutional change.
Exactly. A lasting legacy of this exhibition is giving the recovery community a permanent voice at the Whitworth. Each curator’ s interpretations will live in the
Left: Curators Chanje, Anastasia, Paul, Annie and Penny. Below left: Dominic Pillai, curator of social engagement at Portraits of Recovery. Photography by Joe Fildes and courtesy of The Whitworth, 2025.
collection’ s database, so anyone searching for these artworks will encounter what it means to be a‘ recoverist’. Long-term, we want the Whitworth to host regular fellowship meetings, which usually happen in hidden, uninspiring spaces. Holding one in a temple of art is nationally groundbreaking, but it aligns with our belief that art is critically essential to recovery. The project challenged the Whitworth to rethink how it listens and shares power. Rather than leading from the top, they embraced our expertise and we shaped the exhibition together.
You use the words‘ recoverist’ and‘ recoverism’ – can you explain what they mean?
Recoverism is a form of cultural activism that uses art to challenge how we think and live. Rooted in Manchester’ s history of social movements, it’ s about making recovery from substance use visible and valued. We call those we work with‘ recoverists’( recovery + activist), not‘ participants’ or‘ service users’. The term reflects self-empowerment and the drive to be the change. For a hyper-marginalised community facing deep stigma, visibility is everything. Portraits of Recovery creates platforms for these voices, breaking down barriers to cultural inclusion.
You’ ve spoken elsewhere about art being an alternative addiction. What do you mean by that?
There are a lot of artists in recovery, and for them creativity is an essential part of their recovery journey. Art provides meaning and purpose to their lives. Putting down a substance is only the first step. It’ s where you choose to channel addictive behaviour that is key. Creativity is a more positive, less destructive activity to be addicted to.
The exhibition runs until July – what do you hope audiences take away from it?
I hope audiences come expecting one thing but leave with an entirely new perspective. Perhaps they’ ll be attracted by a famous name – Hockney, Tillmans, Bacon, but stay for Anastasia, Penny, Chanje, Annie, Paul and Dom. By coming to understand that addiction is a response to the consequential pain of being alive, they might better see what it means to be a person in recovery. As Anastasia puts it,‘ To me, recovery is at the bottom of the washing up bowl. It’ s a beautiful place to start.’
Rhea Mehmet is digital strategy and marketing lead at PORe
Recoverist Curators: Re-imagining the World We Live In is at the Whitworth until 5 July 2026. Entry is free. portraitsofrecovery. org. uk / whats-on / recoverist-curators /
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