Hello all, nice to have you all back on the blog.
This week, I shadowed another tour and got a different perspective. Each visitor is so unique, I love it. This week, the tour involved a diabetes educator from North Carolina and having Type 2 herself. It was fascinating for her to come and learn about the wonderful history and stories we present here at Banting House.
The main focus of this week’s blog post is to describe what I will be doing the bulk of my time here at Banting House. I am curating an online exhibit about people with diabetes and tattoos. We are hoping to explain how people use their tattoos to demonstrate how they are overcoming their adversity with Diabetes. Using transcripts, oral interviews from Western University’s last year’s public history students and photos from different people from all over Canada, USA and some other parts of the world, we are going to show how a person uses their skin-art to illustrate their struggle or sympathy towards those with diabetes (some people get one to be in solidarity with a friend or family member living with Diabetes). We are hoping to curate it to 6 distinct themes that each of the tattoos could likely fall under. The one that I have chosen to display for this week’s photo is under the category of mental health: “I am greater than my highs and lows.” A person with diabetes when faced with too high of blood sugar feel lethargic and those with low blood sugar feel anxious. I chose this one because of its simplicity in design and the nature themes as well. This person has chosen to get this tattoo to indicate their resolve to not let that number define them as a person, and I find that to be very inspiring. Their ink is a testament to their survival and their desire to carry on with strength.
It should be a meaningful exhibit, filled with touching tributes and moving imagery as we come to learn and understand about how the world showcases their appreciation for what happened here 101 years ago.
Keep following the blog/social media pages for further updates. Thanks for reading.
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