Venture Arts: NARRATIVES

Saturday 14 January – 26 February 2023
Venue: The Lowry, Salford

Featuring: Omid Asadi, Jennie Franklin, Parham Ghalamdar, Jackie Haynes, Sarah Lee, Horace Lindezey, Millie Loveday, Deborah Makinde, Laura Nathan, Dominic Pillai, Alice Merida Richards, and Leslie Thompson.

NARRATIVES is part of the Explorers Project led by Project Art Works and is a partnership project between Venture Arts, Castlefield Gallery and The Lowry, and associates Ahmed Ullah Iqbal Race Relations Centre and Manchester Jewish Museum.

NARRATIVES at The Lowry is the culmination of a summer residency that brought together five artists based at Venture Arts in Hulme; a visual arts organisation working with learning disabled and neurodiverse artists, initially working alongside five other artists from across Greater Manchester, to develop shared ideas and create new art work. Each of the artists have been exploring personal histories and cultural heritage and stories, and possible connections between themselves. A collaborative approach to making art has been at the core of this 20-week residency; the collective of artists have drawn on inspiration from TV specials, 80s Moss Side, family heritage, comedy and reggae, supper club influences and group idols including Sid James, Sparrow Martin, Julee Cruise and Julie London. The residency took place at St Margaret’s social club in Whalley Range and the character of the club itself, the function room, changing rooms and surrounding football pitches also deeply influenced the work of the group.

NARRATIVES is the third cycle of the pioneering ‘Conversations Series’ by Venture Arts; a programme of four artistic projects and residencies first established in 2016 aimed at creating new work in a shared exchange of art and ideas. This programme brings together a range of artists, with and without learning disabilities, to develop collaborative, reciprocal learning, and creative  exchanges. Through this, it is hoped that open conversations and new dialogues about the role of art in contemporary society will be generated.

Image: Horace Lindezey. Image courtesy Dom Pillai.