WHY DO WE TAKE DRUGS? Exhibition – Sainsbury Centre, Norwich

The second phase of the Sainsbury Centre’s ground-breaking series of exhibitions examining the highs and lows of drug cultures across the world opens this November.
In September (2024), the Sainsbury Centre boldly launched a 6-month exhibition programme, seeking to address one of global society’s biggest questions, Why Do We Take Drugs?
The opening two exhibitions (open until February 2025) look at themes of the use and dependency to substances ranging from amphetamines and caffeine to ayahuasca and tobacco.
In the second half of the season (beginning 23 November), the Sainsbury Centre’s focus turns to the harsh realities of life as a heroin user and the more freely available and, perhaps controversially, socially acceptable reliance on antidepressants and alcohol.

Heroin Falls
23 November 2024 – 27 April 2025

Heroin Falls unflinchingly reveals heroin dependency as seen through the eyes of two remarkable photographers.
The exhibition aims to show how substance use and dependency is a global challenge that transcends race, location and class.
Magnum photographer Lindokuhle Sobekwa (b.1995) aimed his lens at a group of young men living in the South African township of Thokoza, where they turned to using Nyaope, a low-grade form of heroin which can be mixed with many different bulking agents including cannabis products, antiretroviral drugs, as well as other materials.
Sobekwa documented their journey, capturing their daily activities and chores. He concluded the project by presenting a positive, redemptive aspect of their journeys through rehab and moments of reflection.

While most documentary projects about dependency expose another person’s behaviour, Scottish-born, New York-based photographer Graham MacIndoe (b.1963) took a very different approach: he photographed himself during the years he was dependant on heroin. He’d place a cheap digital camera on a table or bookshelf, set the self-timer to take a photo every so often, then turn his attention to the rituals of his habit. The resulting images unflinchingly depict his drug dependency, along with his creative use of the medium to chart his own recovery.
MacIndoe has been in recovery for nearly 15 years, volunteering to help others access harm reduction, treatment, and recovery support and reduce the stigma surrounding people navigating dependency and other challenges. The exhibition will also include collaborative works from this series.

Lindsey Mendick: Hot Mess
23 November 2024 – 27 April 2025
Lindsey Mendick (b.1987) is an artist who subverts the tradition of ceramics with darkly comic, confessional works. Her newly commissioned series of sculptures especially for the Sainsbury Centre exhibition are strikingly personal, and tackle a number of social taboos while exposing Mendick’s own, secret fears.
For the Why Do We Take Drugs? season, Mendick, who recently won the Sky Arts award for Visual Art, has bravely revealed her reliance on antidepressants and alcohol, which she relied upon to help navigate stressful social situations and cope with the threatening unpredictability of daily life. In so doing, her subversive practice candidly addresses the stigma attached to taking medications, such as antidepressants, and confronts the viewer’s own possible behaviours.
By positioning her works amongst paintings by Francis Bacon and Leonora Carrington, along with sculpture from the Arctic to Africa, Mendick has created a surprising intervention in the Sainsbury Centre’s ‘Living Area’ collection display to disrupt the clean aesthetic, rather like an unruly and unwelcome guest at a party.

Copyright Lindokuhle-Sobekwa – Magnum-Photos