I chose the theme of “expanding the definition of human to include those excluded or othered by the default.” The object that I chose was an 18th century herbal remedies book. I am incredibly passionate about equality. I am from a third world country in Southern Africa called Namibia raised as a missionary child. I am taking a personal route with this project because I was raised in a small rural village and I can remember falling asleep to the sound of drums and chants in the distance, from the traditional healing ceremonies. I wanted to show that even today traditional healing still takes place in many countries and some of the medicines resemble the ones used in the 18th century book. The world of traditional medicine is often frowned upon or belittled my modern medicine. Modern medicine is definitely revolutionary and massively effective but I think people need to see that a lot of the communities that still practice traditional healing still live in a traditional way and simply do not have access to education like the western world. My final piece is a featureless portrait in acrylic with the words “are we not all human” in English and in Luchazi which is a local tribal language spoken in the village I grew up in.
Ella Gunning 
My “third culture missionary kid” posthumanist response to an 18th century remedy book
IMAGE: Mind map 1
IMAGE: Mind map 2
IMAGE: Writing with dip pen and ink
IMAGE: Pen and ink illustration inspired by Channarong Pherngjanda
