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Why Do We Take Drugs Season, Sainsbury Centre

Exhibition Design

2024-2025

West Port, acting a lead designer, were commissioned by the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts to design their two ground-breaking exhibitions as part of their Drugs season. The beginning of the season, which in September 2024, led with two new shows which focused on the psychoactive nature of plants and their relationship with peoples and societies around the world. The exhibition was developed with the help of 2D designers Ark and Lighting Designers George Sexton Associates.

Power Plants: Intoxicants, Stimulants and Narcotics (in Gallery 1 and the Link Galleries) explores the historical and cultural significance of psychoactive plants, such as peyote, tobacco, betel nut, and kava, which have been used in social, ceremonial, and religious contexts for millennia. Ayahuasca & Art of the Amazon (in Galleries 2 and 3) explores the influence of the psychotropic vine, ayahuasca, on Western Amazonian social life and art. It traces the connection between hallucinogens and cultural movements, particularly the Beat Generation from the 1950s onward. The exhibition highlights the artistic creativity of the Shipibo-Konibo community in the Peruvian Amazon, showcasing both historical and contemporary works.

 © 2O25 West Port

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