Disease Narratives and Artistic Alternatives

The dominant colonial scientific narrative of managing disease is one of risk, response, and control. This narrative, while shifting, continues to frame the priorities and delivery of how biosecurity is implemented in Aotearoa|New Zealand and elsewhere. In this article, we explore the narrative position of four artistic works commissioned in response to the pathogens Phytophthora agathidicida (kauri dieback) and Austropuccinia psidii (myrtle rust). While much is still unknown about these pathogens, they threaten the unique species of the indigenous forest(s) of Aotearoa|New Zealand. The commissioning research team Toi Taiao Whakatairanga sought to ‘widen public awareness’ about the two pathogens. In response, nine commissioned artists developed an alternative narrative to the conventional science-based approach to both the framing of disease and biosecurity efforts focused on eradication. We use collaborative narrative analysis with four of the nine projects to describe the practices that have produced the alternative framings in the artworks. We draw on the notion of the ‘contact zone’ to explore how these narratives as art provide a ‘truth buffer’ free from expectations for ‘facts’ that, in process, open possibilities for different kinds of knowledges and action. We suggest that the artists’ work tends to explore the wider systemic context of biosecurity rather than the pathogen-specific perspective. We postulate that alternative narratives might alter the approach to governance, management, and care relations for te taiao (the natural environment).