Forest
Item
Title
Forest
Is Part Of
Biological Sciences
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Chemistry
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Fine Art
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African Studies
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Centre for Curating the Archive
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Description
"The bottles and pipettes in 'Forest' were originally sourced from the storage rooms of the Chemistry department, where they awaited disposal. This cabinet responded to the lacuna of indigenous material represented by the chest and addressed this imbalance by filling the bottles with teas made from local medicinal plants. Staging the bottles and pipettes to simulate a forest references the prejudice of Burroughs, Wellcome and Co (BWC) against these natural remedies, ‘purifying’ them through laboratory processes before they were deemed trustworthy and marketable. This process also occluded the original source of the remedies and sowed the seeds of biopiracy. The various items of glassware in this cabinet were filled with a selection of infusions made from Balotta africana, Sutherlandia frutescens, Agathosma crenulata, Melianthus major, Mentha longifolia, Petroselinum crispum, Hypoxiz villosa and Salvia officinalis" (Liebenberg 2021: 255).
Curriculum
Creator
Nina Liebenberg
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Date Created
2018
Source
Chest: a botanical ecology
Resonances
medicine
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medicine chest
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illness
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pipettes
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infusion
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biopiracy
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laboratory
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biomedicine
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cabinet
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Chest: a botanical ecology
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South African Museum
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Type
Artwork
Contributor
Nina Liebenberg
