Reversing Dissections

“Reversing Dissections” brings together a diverse group of artists, activists and scholars to acknowledge, grieve and reckon with the exploitation of marginalized bodies that has systematically operated within western medicine and its biomedical visualization. In medical research the noble goal of diagnosing and curing (often reserved to privileged bodies), has justified the use of violent, discriminatory and extractive practices of experimentation (often endured by vulnerable bodies). This project reverses the dissecting medical gaze by collectively demanding accountability, humanization and celebration for the anonymous bodies whose contribution helped countless people heal across times and geographies.

This project aims to:

• Draft new community-led paths to reconcile medical trauma with scientific progress.
• Recognize the impact these images have beyond the medical field, into mainstream representations of the body.
• Develop creative, empowered, collective language that responds to archives and accompanies biased historical material.