ANEW Way to Peel an Orange at Castlefield Gallery

Castlefield Gallery presents ANEW Way to Peel an Orange, a collaborative exhibition by designer Joe Hartley and the ANEW recovery community, following Hartley’s five-month residency with ANEW in Tameside.

Rooted in care, the exhibition is the result of mutual learning between artists, community members and service providers. Collaboration and creativity go hand in hand across all aspects of the event.

ANEW works with people using creative approaches to recovery from substance use which align perfectly with Joe Hartley’s openness to new methods of making.

The project spans ceramics, furniture-making, photography as well as outdoor activities like equine-assisted therapy and hatching chickens as a metaphor for new beginnings. Visually, ANEW Way to Peel an Orange features large-scale, black and white photographs, ceramics and site-specific interventions including graffiti. Everything from the artworks themselves to the display stands, exhibition furniture and frames has been co-produced with Hartley and ANEW members.

The title refers to the phrase “peeling an orange in your pocket” which, here, adopts multiple meanings but draws attention to the idea of hidden talents which sometimes need a specific environment to grow.

As part of the project, Castlefield Gallery is also home to pop-up shop filled with teapots and ceramics pieces that have been created using plant glazes. The group specifically chose invasive species of plants, to flip their usual negative connotations into something that can produce beautiful results. Outside, viewers will find a gallery garden too.

ANEW Way to Peel an Orange is presented as part of the CHAORDIC programme by Portraits of Recovery and invites viewers to consider recovery as a collective, creative journey.