Pop-Up Botánica Exhibit & Lecture Presentation

Posted in: #CC/Academic List, #Health Interest List, #Health Sciences List, #Public/K-12 List, All Members

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The University of Arizona Health Sciences Library (UAHSL) received an NNLM Region 4 Outreach and Engagement award for a project entitled Pop-Up Botánica Exhibit & Lecture Presentation. UAHSL collaborated with a professor and four graduate students from the Mexican American Studies (MAS) department and the College of Medicine-Tucson’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to host the exhibit. The Pop-Up Botánica: Enduring Indigenous Medicine exhibit opened March 18 and closed April 27. In the show, there was a table with resources/bookmarks from the National Library of Medicine: MedlinePlus, PubMed, Native Voices, and Connecting Native Americans to Health Information. Also on display were five shadow boxes with traditional healing herbs, potions, amulets, and objects of importance to ward off evil and promote health.

The exhibit also had a digital component. The professor recorded a 3D video of the shadow boxes. The video was uploaded and bookmarked on a public computer used for the exhibit where visitors could scroll through it online – an interactive experience. For the immersive experience, two Oculus virtual reality headsets were available for visitors to “step into” the shadow boxes and see them in life-size! Also bookmarked on the computer was the Pop-Up Botánica website. It was developed by the professor and students using Google Sites. It detailed information about the exhibit’s content and outlined visitor etiquette for those touring the show. The website was publically available only during the exhibition period, a specification to observe protocols associated with indigenous medicine. The exhibit also had a reflection board available where visitors were invited to use a Post-it® to give feedback or reflect upon the exhibit. Messages left on the board included statements such as, “I was shown how beautiful and interesting my culture is!” and “The digital component to the exhibit was awesome.”

On April 20^th and 21^st, two area high school groups toured the exhibit. Three stations were set up for small group presentations. One had the “Susto” (fright) shadow box, the second had the “Plant Medicine” shadow box, and the third was for the video. After touring the exhibit, the students gathered in a circle for the presentation. The presenters, Sylvia Ledesma and Miguel Flores Jr. talked about indigenous health knowledge and beliefs. The day La Maestra (Sylvia) presented, she demonstrated the practice of ceremony to promote healing. The students were terrific participants! In addition to the exhibit tour and activity, the students toured three stations in the university’s ASTEC simulation lab. After their time on the health sciences campus, the group walked to the Guererro Student Center (GSC) on the main campus for lunch. There, they heard about GSC services and resources and engaged in a discussion about college life in general.

All in all, the exhibit presentation event was well received and impactful. Over thirty percent of the students who attended the exhibit provided feedback on a survey stating they were “extremely satisfied with your visit to the University of Arizona campus.” This exhibit was an excellent way for the library to foster cross-campus collaborations. In this instance, the library worked with multiple partners who all had a similar mission, that is, to promote the student pipeline, particularly with underrepresented groups.