Recollections May Vary at the Mental Health Museum, Wakefield

Maja Lorkowska, Exhibitions Editor

Visit now

Recollections May Vary

14 June-9 December 2022

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Photograph entitled 'A Tangled Mind' by artist Louisa Hammond, depicts a man wrapped in string and what looks like balloons
A Tangled Mind - Louisa Hammond
Book now

A brand new exhibition from the charity Outside In opens this summer at the Mental Health Museum in Wakefield. Recollections May Vary is part of a two-year, nationwide project entitled New Dialogues. The display takes the existing museum collection of objects and documentation relating to mental health treatment as a starting point for creative responses.

The artists involved in the show are: alabamathirteen, Alicia Wallace, Angela Chudley, Cara Macwilliam, Donna Coleman, Jo Doll, Joanna Henderson, Joanne Tiffany, Louisa Hammond, Mandy Shepherd, Paige Lyons and Sam Metz.

The Mental Health Museum is one of only three in England dedicated to exploring the story of mental health and its treatment and represents the only such collection in the north of England. New Dialogues provides a programme of nine courses designed to equip the participating artists with skills in research, interpretation and curation, and as a result, four exhibitions are taking place across the country. With work ranging from photography and soundscapes to animation, Recollections May Vary features powerful personal responses. Highlights include Louisa Hammond’s photographs of people tangled in unsettling wearable sculptures, and Paige Lyons’ Three Mary’s, Three Stories, exploring the stories of three women in the 1800s who were patients at The West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum.

The exhibition is open by appointment. To book, contact the museum via email museum@swyt.nhs.uk or call 01949 316360.

Where to go near Recollections May Vary at the Mental Health Museum, Wakefield

Hotel Aparts Wakefield by Sekhon Group
Wakefield
Hotel
Hotel Aparts Wakefield

Hotel Aparts Wakefield by Sekhon Group is a winning combination: modern, refurbished apartments in a beautiful Georgian building.

Courtyard Mews
Wakefield
Hotel
Courtyard Mews

Courtyard Mews is a collection of stylish, modern, serviced apartments with private parking, just north of Wakefield city centre.

Corarima
Wakefield
Restaurant
Corarima

This vegetarian restaurant is currently offering a click and collect service every Friday and Saturday evening which can be ordered online.

Rustico
Wakefield
Restaurant
Rustico

Rustico has been providing an authentic Italian dining experience in the heart of Wakefield for over ten years.

Create Café
Wakefield
Café or Coffee Shop
Create Café

Create is a fabulous place to catch up over coffee with friends for a quick business meeting.

Merlins of Wakefield
Wakefield
Shop
Merlins of Wakefield

Merlins of Wakefield is a magic shop offering both products and informed advice to beginner and experienced magicians.

Wakefield
Restaurant
Smokehouse BBQ & Grill

Boasting its own top-secret spice and herb mix, Smokehouse is a proud American-style restaurant in the heart of Wakefield.

Wakefield
Music venue
Jock’s Cavern

High quality cocktails and vibrant live music is what makes Jocks Cavern so popular. This underground bar offers an intimate and effervescent atmosphere to indulge in their well-stocked bar.

Qubana
Wakefield
Restaurant
Qubana

Qubana has an amazing home dining menu with a wide and varied list of fabulous food to feast on at home.

What's on: Exhibitions

Until
Exhibitions
The Vessel at PINK

Chris Thompson transforms PINK into an uncanny, interactive cabinet of obsessions, inviting visitors to uncover its shifting, unstable narratives.

Free entry
Until
ExhibitionsCity Centre
Just Browsing at the Bluecoat

Please DO touch – Bluecoat’s new exhibition ‘Just Browsing’ allows audiences to get closer to the artworks and engage beyond looking.

Free entry

Culture Guides

Music in the North

Manchester’s starting the new year with a run of gigs from some of the country’s best underground exports.

Textured portrait image of Jarman
Theatre in the North

Theatre across the North West splits between festive escape and sharp, urgent work exploring politics, power and resistance.

Food and Drink in the North

Hear ye, hear ye. Take some eating-out tips from our wintertime guide to food and drink in Manchester and the North.

A doll with makeup peeks out of a hanging wall of butter yellow fabric. Red and black threads descend and cascade around the doll.
Exhibitions in the North

This season, exhibitions across the North West feel attuned to the world beneath the world – the forces and stories shaping how we see, feel and imagine.

A performer in a bright red costume sits on a snowy stage set, holding a large snowball between their legs with a surprised expression. The colourful winter backdrop features snowflakes, hills, a snowman, and a traffic light with glowing lights.
Family things to do in the North

Whether you’re after storybook theatre, museum wanderings or illusion-bending play spaces, there’s plenty to keep curiosity ticking through winter and beyond.

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
Cinema in the North

There's no shortage of great films out at the moment, whether you're looking for the latest blockbuster, that hot arthouse flick fresh from Cannes or a cosy classic.