Display | Reclaiming Narratives: Voices from the College of Medicine and Health

Who controls the narratives around medicine’s history? And do the portraits on the walls of our medical school really represent those who work and learn there? Submit

In 2021 and 2022, award-winning artist Marley Starskey Butler and Barber Student Engagement Coordinator and artist Kirsty Clark teamed up with College of Medicine and Health students for portraiture workshops documenting their college and today’s student experience. They reflected on what the portraits the college displays suggest about the institution, its past and present. Students worked closely with Marley to celebrate the ‘hidden’ lives and stories around the college, through photography, crafting their own additions to University of Birmingham archives.

CMH students also came together to create art and share stories celebrating the healing properties of nature and the power of storytelling. Inspired by the Medical School’s portrait of William Withering (1741-1799), they explored the forgotten women and the hidden lives whose healing hedgerow tea formed the basis of Withering’s research into the medical uses of digitalis sourced from foxglove flowers.

This display includes portraits by Marley and CMH students and posters created by the students: snapshots of the creative workshops and talks with writer and horticulturist Alys Fowler, writer Adrian B. Earl, poet Jasmine Gardosi and Kirsty.

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