Recoverist Curators

An exhibition curated by people in recovery from substance use, which re-narrates artworks from the Whitworth collection through a Recoverist Lens.

Driven by lived experience of substance use and recovery, the Recoverist Curators collaboration is an activist based process, developing inclusive ways for working with people and communities in recovery. The Recoverist Curators exhibition has led to the development of new knowledge, and increased cultural confidence for successful creative Recoverist engagement.

Recovery is often misunderstood. Recovery is not finite; it is a social process, a journey. It is cultural, contemporary and in the moment. Through the lens of recovery the curators have researched and reinterpreted the Whitworth’s collection. By curating this exhibition of artworks and engaging the public, the Recoverist Curators share their inspirational stories of hope, fear, desires and dreams.

Recoverist Curators supports Portraits of Recovery and the Whitworth’s collective mission for art as a means for positive social change, increased mental health and well-being and for shifting balances of power to a more equitable approach. Recoverism as an inclusive ideology to support society to better look at itself as a whole and to shift how we think, work, live and express ourselves.

Portraits of Recovery is a Manchester-based visual arts charity, supporting people who identify as being in recovery from substance use. 

Supported by the Baring Foundation. 

Find out more about the project and Portraits of Recovery 

25 July 2025 – June 2026

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