Graduation project
Performing Medicine: Welcome to the Helminth Therapy Support Group
Monika Gravagno
A participatory performance explores the relationship between medical institutions and DIY therapy, encouraging recognising healing as a collective effort.
While medical institutions deem the link between the absence of helminths — a type of intestinal worm — in the human microbiome and the rise of autoimmune disorders inconclusive, numerous online communities attest otherwise. Surveying the world of DIY medicine, in particular the Helminth Therapy Support Facebook Group, Monika Gravagno used digital ethnography and performative research methodologies to explore the potential for active participation in matters of care and self-governance. Performing Medicine is a participatory performance that challenges the hierarchical and theatrical relations of conventional medicine by drawing attention to the narrative dynamics of medical props, rituals, and languages of authority. The project emphasises the value of subjective experiences of illness to reconsider medicine as a collective effort.