 | Memento Mori, from the exhibit OUTBREAK:
Plagues that Changed History by Bryn Barnard,
all rights reserved
INFECTIOUS DISEASE ON DISPLAY AT NMHM
EXTENDED THROUGH MARCH 7, 2010 |
"OUTBREAK: Plagues That Changed History," an exhibit of artwork depicting the impact of disease on human history, is presently featured in a limited engagement at the National Museum of Health and Medicine, through January 22, 2010 – EXTENDED THROUGH MARCH 7, 2010
OUTBREAK is the work of artist and author Bryn Barnard and is based on his book of the same name (published by Crown Publishers). The paintings illustrate key moments in world history by educating the visitor on the impact certain epidemiological disasters have had on shaping human population and world civilization. The exhibit includes original paintings partnered with maps and text from the book. This is the first major East Coast installation for OUTBREAK.
In the book's introduction, Barnard writes: "…whether fast or slow, epidemic, pandemic, or endemic, these infectious diseases can force enormous, sometimes cataclysmic changes on societies. They can reshuffle power, serve the greater good, or solidify the status of the ruling class. They can determine not just who lives and who dies, but who wins and who loses, who gets wealthy and who stays poor, which ideas become popular and which ones wither away. Without epidemics, ours would be a very different world indeed. Outbreak is the story of epidemics that have transformed human society."
"This institution's historic interest in combating infectious disease goes back to Captain Walter Reed himself when he was curator of the Army Medical Museum at the turn of the 20th century," said Adrianne Noe, Ph.D., Museum director. "Reed's thorough methods and scientific approach led to improved treatment regimens and vaccines for yellow fever and also served to institutionalize the role of the medical scientist in the armed forces. We're glad that Barnard's exhibit further educates our visitors about the impact infectious diseases have had on human history and how modern medicine has worked to combat the threat of such diseases."
OUTBREAK focuses on the medical and social impact of six epidemics: how the Black Death in the 14th century created ideal conditions for the rise of capitalism; how smallpox stacked the deck in favor of nascent European colonialism; how yellow fever helped end the trans-Atlantic slave trade and how wave after wave of 19th century cholera epidemics created the modern city; how tuberculosis catalyzed the development of the welfare state; and how the H1N1 Spanish Influenza of 1918 shaped the outcome and aftermath of the first World War.
Bryn Barnard has illustrated numerous books and is the author of Dangerous Planet: Natural Disasters That Changed History. The author lives in Friday Harbor, Washington.
"Outbreak: Plagues That Changed History" is written and illustrated by Barnard and published by Crown Publishers, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, a division of Random House, Inc.
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