The END Fund’s Reframing Neglect, a photography series highlighting the need to end Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), is exhibiting in Nairobi, the first city in Africa to host the global exhibition in its entirety.
Held at the historic McMillan Memorial Library in Nairobi, the public exhibition, which has been live since September 23rd, includes 41 photos by photographers from six African countries; through fine art and documentary photography, the artists highlight the weight of NTDs borne by individuals and communities, using art as a tool of shared human emotion while addressing the need to spread awareness of neglected diseases.
NTDs are a group of parasitic and bacterial infectious diseases that affect more than 1.65 billion people, including nearly 1 billion children. The END Fund works towards ensuring that people at risk of NTDs can live healthy prosperous lives, with a vision to reach the elimination of NTDs by 2030. Ranking among the most devastating groups of communicable diseases, NTDs affect children’s health and ability to stay in school, while for adults, social isolation and physical ailments limit their ability to provide for their families.
In 2021, to celebrate ten years of impact, the END Fund engaged contemporary artist and advocate Aïda Muluneh to create a body of work with photographers from across six countries in Africa impacted by NTDs: Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, and Sudan.
Reframing Neglect includes photography by Messeret Argaw (Ethiopia), Mustafa Saeed (Somalia), Sarah Waiswa (Uganda), John Kalapo (Mali), Omoregie Osakpolor (Nigeria) and Ala Kheir (Sudan).
“This is the first time we are exhibiting in Africa, after touring North America and Europe, and Nairobi was a fitting venue. The city is not only cosmopolitan, but is also a significant cultural and historical hub, offering the ideal setting to raise awareness on NTDs through art”, says Carol Karutu, Vice President, Programs.
Sam Mayer, Vice President of Global Strategic Partnerships at the END Fund, comments: ‘We’re thrilled to be able to showcase this important work in Nairobi, where the culture of art and imagery is so rich. Storytelling has long been used as one of the most powerful communication tools to educate, unify, and spur action. Reframing Neglect is a wonderful example of this from a new series of storytelling partnerships that allows the END Fund and our partners to increase awareness of NTDs and the needless impact they have on millions of people across Africa and beyond. Our work with Muluneh emphasizes our priority to amplify the narratives of storytellers that are representative of the communities we work with, upholding our collective commitment to fundamental human dignity, and highlighting the impact of our programs with fuller and more authentic perspectives.’
The exhibition is curated by Reframing Neglect artist, Sarah Waiswa, who has partnered with Nairobi to bring the series to life in a publicly accessible venue where all can admire the stunning works, and bring awareness to the importance of ending NTDs.
The exhibition is currently showing at McMillan Memorial Library, Banda Street, Nairobi CBD, 9am – 5pm.
Aïda Muluneh – Crimson Echo
The Crimson Echo is a reflection on the human toll of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), not only on the physical manifestations of the diseases but the implication they have on the psyche of those impacted. Muluneh embeds multiple layers of narrative into each image to create a powerful interpretation of the impact of NTDs on gender equity, mental health, mobility, and access to resources. Using bright colors and respect for tradition as her vehicle, Muluneh’s work is dismantling renderings of a bleak and impoverished Africa. In essence, utilizing art as a tool to ask questions, show the unseen and provoke the onlooker to encounter the depths of our shared human emotions.
Mustafa Saeed – Water..Water..Life
Somali documentary photographer and visual artist, Mustafa Saeed, focuses on dissecting the emotional turmoil that intestinal worms bring to the people whose bodies they inhabit. Through colorful ropes and garments, Mustafa conveys the neglect and feeling of being a prisoner to a disease that can easily be treated.
Sarah Waiswa – Living with LF
In this series, Sarah Waiswa, a Ugandan-born, Kenya-based photographer follows Eunice Atieno, a 48 year old single mother, who has been living with lymphatic filariasis (LF) since 2011. Not knowing the cause of the swelling, Eunice went from hospital to hospital trying to get a diagnosis, but failed to get an answer. At one point doctors claimed it was cancer and she even went ahead with chemotherapy, but her leg continued to swell. In 2019, she was correctly diagnosed with LF following a mass drug administration exercise that took place in her neighborhood.
Meseret Argaw – Neglect the “Neglect”
Ethiopian photographer Meseret Argaw explores the social, economic, and mental health impact neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) have on women living in rural communities in Ethiopia. Through conceptual pieces, she illustrates how NTDs force women into cycles of poverty. Each photograph is not directly related to a specific NTD, but the feeling behind what women with NTDs face. It could be not being able to finish the simplest everyday task, the social isolation or exclusion, the added burden of the diseases, the negative social pressure and the broken dreams they hold on to.
Ala Kheir – In their place
Ala Kheir layers photos of people and places in this series. Ala highlights a neighborhood in the outskirts of Khartoum known as the Stables Industrial Area where families who fled unstable regions have made makeshift homes. The city is rapidly expanding, and poverty is clear in the periphery. People fleeing war zones find refuge in places that are not suitable to be homes. Dump yards, industrial areas, and other seemingly unsuitable areas now host huge populations trying to make temporary homes, which slowly have become integrated into the city – areas now rife with NTDs. These new neighborhoods are in all corners of the city, and it is where the majority of people living with NTDs reside.
John Kalapo – The Neglected diseases in Mali
Malian photographer, John Kalapo, documents people living with NTDs in the Kita region of the country. Through formal portraits, he captures the physical impact of the disease while maintaining the dignity of the people he photographs. He focuses on documenting cases of river blindness and elephantiasis in the villages of Sagabary, Boukarybaye-Bohan, and in Kita town.
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