From addiction to recovery: Queer takeover of Manchester gallery to feature international artists

A host of local and international artists will come together for a queer takeover day with an important message at Manchester Art Gallery this weekend.

The takeover will explore themes of intimacy, respect and consent within the LGBTQ+ community and will be taking place to coincide with Recoverist Month - an annual arts-based awareness event that places people in recovery from substance use at the centre of the stage.

The one-day free event, which has been curated by artist Harold Offeh, will take place on Sunday (September 29) and will feature live artwork, a one-person play, films and a dance freestyle.

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Taking place from 12pm to 4.45pm, the takeover will feature five international artists, including freestyles from Manchester’s Ghetto Fabulous, live art from Venezuelan and London artist Daniel Ray, and a one-person play about unrequited love from London and Frankfurt’s Sam Cottingham.

Manchester’s mandla will perform a spoken word choreopoem, whilst Paris and London artist Valentin Ranger will showcase a series of visuals stemming across drawings, 3D art, still images and moving images. Manchester drag queen and cabaret star Violet Blonde, from the Family Gorgeous, will also appear as part of a live art display.

Curator Harold, who is known for his recreation of Grace Jones' iconic Island Life album cover, will also perform original music alongside dancers from Ghetto Fabulous. Speaking about the event, Harold said: “Identification with music and lyrics has been an anchor for the project, in terms of inviting people to speak of their experiences.

"And a central value informing the work was to de-stigmatise or not bring in shame, which is still sadly a part of the overall queer experience.”

The Let’s Talk About Chemsex event first premiered at Manchester Pride last year and has since developed into a series of workshops, and draws on the city’s efforts to promote non-judgemental discussions on Chemsex, consent, HIV and queer intimacy.

The event has been commissioned by Portraits of Recovery (PORe), a pioneering visual arts charity based in Manchester which aims to inspire and support people affected by and in recovery from substance use.

Mark Prest, founder of Portraits of Recovery, says: "Manchester is a destination point for chemsex parties and chemsex is a contested discourse, and a form of liberation from internalised homophobia.

"So it is critically important that we from the LGBT+ community engage with these difficult conversations. Art lends itself to this process by opening up liminal space for the building of mutually trustful, sharing relationships.

“In the context of Let’s Talk About Chemsex, lead artist Harold Offeh excelled, through his open and empathetic artistic methodologies”

Free tickets for Let’s Talk about Chemsex Presents: A Queer Gallery Takeover on Sunday (September 29) can be reserved here.