On the 5th of May 2021, over four weeks, four Vita Nova participants (Barbie, David, Jamie, Tawa) worked with contemporary British artist Mark David Lloyd producing artwork around the theme of Reawakening. This project was made possible by the Wessex Water Foundation grant. The work produced over the four sessions at Lloyd’s studio in Southbourne was then exhibited in a private view at Vita Nova on the 18th of June, before going public as part of BEAF festival at the end of June.
Vita Nova participants and friends came together the weekend before the private exhibition to create a gallery pop-up space at our headquarters. The exhibition was a great success. Due to the Covid-19 restrictions, the private view was ticketed via Eventbrite and donation-based. We raised over £70 for Vita Nova from donations for the exhibition private viewing, towards the cost of our display. We received outstanding feedback from attendees, and many expressed how moved they were by the artwork on display. In the lead up to the exhibition, participants Barbie and Jamie had both featured in radio interviews about the project, with Radio Solent, Forest FM, and Hope FM. Developing the exhibition has enabled participants to gain new insights into the world of contemporary art and discover skills they did not know they had.
Speaking about the impact of the project, artist Mark David Lloyd said: ‘It’s an opportunity to see that they can do things that they perhaps didn’t realise that they could. Creativity is a great way to process trauma as art therapy, even though what we’re doing is not art therapy’. The public exhibition connected with others in the recovery community, as well as the public, who can often harbour stigma around addition recovery. The exhibition was a way for participants to heal, share a part of themselves, and break taboos about recovery. Following the exhibition, other members of Vita Nova felt inspired and expressed interest in being involved.
Alongside Reawakening, we had two further pieces exhibiting as part of BEAF. Datta, a digital installation by artist Martin Coyne and Vita Nova downstairs at our studio, and an exhibition of a quilt created in response to lockdown.