Bush Medicine Revival
Timeline:
2022-2023
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Bush Medicine Revival uses medicinal yards and storytelling towards community healing and environmental stewardship via the recovery of Traditional Ecological Knowledge on Bequia.
Bush Medicine Revival is supported by the Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development and Goethe-Institut, and is a part of their Cultural and Artistic Responses to Environmental Change.
Introduction
Ecological Medicine Garden Design in collaboration with Chatoyer Gardens.
Bush Medicine Revival activities include the conceptualisation, development and production of a digital bush medicine handbook utilising local traditional knowledge, supported by scientific knowledge from local experts. This data and information will be elevated through the creation of a showcase bush medicine 'Yard' sustained by a sacred space with an engaging public mural to invigorate community spirit and identity. The Hub will also engage in the production of mini-documentaries and podcasts featuring Elders, the Grandmothers and Grandfathers, a part of Bequia's vulnerable demographic. These activities will feed into a deeper reciprocal relationship to nature and the environment.
Drone shot over site in Port Elizabeth, Bequia.
Bush Medicine Revival aims to:
Identify local bush medicines, mostly native species with their folk medicinal properties, spiritual applications and uses on Bequia using both traditional and scientific knowledge along with lore. This information will be collated into a free digital illustrated medicinal hand guide.
The development of an experimental bush medicine Yard with a communal sitting area and a public mural to create a "showcase" green model space. The plot will showcase medicinal plants and will be a site to train the youth on how to care for the land and in order to develop a more harmonious relationship with nature.
The use of oral and visual storytelling to create a series of Front Porch Conversations and develop a new podcast series with Elders, enthusiasts and scientific/ethnobotanical experts. In Bequia, when one becomes an elder or a "shut in", a church group would visit the person's home to mission, and to keep that Elder's faith and energy connected. In the past years, this practice has dwindled but using this model as inspiration; these conversations become a way to highlight traditional knowledge before these stories are lost.
Hopes
Our communities will develop a deeper connection to nature and the value of the natural environment fostered through an engagement with traditional knowledge.
