Reframing Neglect

This series highlights the dire need to end neglected tropical diseases through a collaborative body of work with photographers from seven African countries. Through a mix of fine art and documentary photography, the artists work to promote the central message that these diseases especially afflict people neglected by international systems.

This collection was curated by Aïda Muluneh, an Ethiopian photographer, contemporary artist, and activist who has captured the international art world through visual storytelling that intersects with, and elevates advocacy. In breathtakingly bold colors, she dissects social issues and challenges western representations of Africa.

This is a short sample of the body of work and the artists that created it.

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.

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. 

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 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 lymphatic filariasis following a mass drug administration exercise that took place in her neighborhood.

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 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.

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.

In this series, Omoregie Osakpolor, documents the activities of tackling neglected tropical diseases in Gombe, Nigeria. Nigeria has one of the highest burden of NTDs in the world with over 166 million people at risk. The series illustrates the physical impact of NTDs on patients and the efforts of health workers in controlling NTDs in their communities.