The Sainsbury Centre in Norwich is asking Why Do We Take Drugs? in their latest exhibition programme.
From alcohol and caffeine to ayahuasca and heroin, this season of three interlinked exhibitions and additional programmes uses art to take you on a journey of investigation.
The world-class art museum is inviting visitors to explore our millennia-old relationship with intoxicants and stimulants, from illegal to familiar across one mind-blowing museum landscape.
The Centre’s six-month season of interlinked exhibitions and programmes will delve into drug cultures around the world and bring to life the highs and lows of drug taking in society.
Substances are taken in every culture around the world, spanning a huge range of experiences for the human body.
The season explores both the organised and chaotic use of narcotics and intoxicants within communities in different parts of the world, alongside the human stories, experiences and cultural impact of mind-altering substances.
Jago Cooper, director of the Sainsbury Centre, says: “I think museums need to help people answer the most important questions in our society and taking drugs is a fundamental one.
“Drugs exist in every society and the role they play is huge. These incredible exhibitions from around the world take visitors over the highs and lows of that reality and their impact in so many people’s lives around the globe.”
The season has opened with two shows in their Lower Galleries:
Power Plants: Intoxicants, Stimulants and Narcotics
Until 2 February 2025
For millennia people have used the psychoactive properties of plants as an integral part of social, ceremonial and religious life.
The show will reference global artefacts that are connected with their traditional consumption.
Ivan Morison: Towards the Weird Heart of Things
October 2024 – February 2025
New four-meter-high, site-specific sculptures by artist Ivan Morison, constructed from abundant East Anglian agricultural organic materials including hemp, which present nature as a vital drug for human health and well-being.
Ayahuasca & Art of the Amazon
Until 2 February 2025
This exhibition considers the impact of the mind-altering, psychotropic vine – ayahuasca – within Western Amazonian social life. It explores how the ritual consumption of ayahuasca is linked to artistic production. As well as being a rare opportunity to appreciate the breadth of Amazonian art, visitors can take a virtual trip on a VR ayahuasca journey guided by a shaman and experience a “drugless psychedelic experience” through Brion Gysin and Ian Sommerville’s Dreamachine.
In November, the season will be joined by:
Herion Falls
23 November 2024 – 27 April 2025
Heroin Falls highlights the realities of addiction through the juxtaposition of Magnum photographer Lindokuhle Sobekwa who documents the use of nyaope in Thokoza, and Graham MacIndoe, who photographed himself whilst addicted to heroin.
Lindsey Mendick: Hot Mess
23 November 2024 – 27 April 2025
Lindsey Mendick’s newly commissioned sculptures will sit in the Sainsbury Centre’s permanent collection and reveal her reliance on antidepressants and alcohol, tackling social taboos and candidly addressing stigmas.