A pop-up outdoor exhibition exploring indigenous medicines and healers in contemporary Kenya opens tomorrow on campus.
Hakuna Dawa Tamu//A Bitter Pill uses images and narratives from traditional healers in rural Kenya and aims to encourage the audience to think critically about assumed healthcare norms in our society. Personal narratives from the healers themselves provide a window into an often invisible world, which is criticised and demonised by wider society.
The exhibition is a collaboration between celebrated Kenyan photographer Biko Wesa and researcher Dr Olivia Howland from the University’s One Health Regional Network for the Horn of Africa (HORN) project.
Dr Howland said: “We are excited to be able to bring the personal stories of Kenyan indigenous healers to you here in Liverpool via this innovative project. This collection of photographs aims to tell the stories of people who make, administer and use traditional medicines in Kenya, to better understand the often invisible world of traditional medicine.”
A launch event and drinks reception is taking place from 4pm on Friday, 29 March at the Institute of Veterinary Science’s museum space in the Thompson Yates building. The exhibition will then run until Friday 5 April outside the building on Dover Street.
The exhibition is also running at the National Museum of Kenya and hopes to eventually find a permanent home elsewhere in Nairobi.
Funding for the project came from the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) Global Impact Accelerator Account.
For further information please contact HORN@liverpool.ac.uk
Hakuna Dawa Tamu//A Bitter Pill
29 March – 5 April
Institute of Veterinary Sciences, Thompson Yates Building, Dover Street, L69 3GB
Launch event from 4pm, 29 March. All welcome, no booking required.
