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An Uncertain World // Healing Maasai Land
10 November 2022 – 3 December 2022
For the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022, ONCA is pleased to be hosting two photographic exhibitions exploring pastoralism.
Content warning
Please note this exhibition contains images and video footage of animals and farming practices that some people may find distressing.
An Uncertain World
The world is full of uncertainties. Financial markets, the climate, new technologies, the spread of a pandemic – it’s difficult to keep up with the unfolding reality. An Uncertain World is a photography exhibition exploring how pastoralists experience and respond to uncertainty. Pastoralism – extensive, often mobile livestock production in rangelands – offers vital lessons for navigating highly variable environments. Too often dismissed as destructive, backward and in need of ‘modernisation’, pastoralists can show the way in embracing uncertainty to meet the challenges of a turbulent world.
The exhibition is curated by Roopa Gogineni, a photographer embedded in the PASTRES research programme at the Institute of Development Studies.
The images were taken over a two year period in a variety of pastoral lands and communities around the world (Sardinia, Italy; Douriet, Southern Tunisia; Borana, Southern Ethiopia; Amdo Tibet; Kachchh, Gujarat, India; Isiolo, Northern Kenya) by mainly local researchers studying PhDs with the Institute for Development Studies.
‘An Uncertain World’ features photographs by PhD researchers: Palden Tsering (Amdo Tibet), Natasha Maru (Kachchh, Gujarat, India), Linda Pappagallo (Douriet, Southern Tunisia), Tahira Shariff (Isiolo, Northern Kenya), Giulia Simula (Sardinia, Italy) and Masresha Taye (Borana, Southern Ethiopia). Photographers Nipun Prabhakar and Hamdi Dallali who assisted the PhD researchers, researchers Michele Nori and Gudrun Dahl and pastoralists Vibhabhai Rabari,, Goracha, and Doyo Loko.
Healing Maasai Land: Communal pastures, changing identities, and cooperation
Land degradation presents a critical threat to the livelihoods of Maasai people in Tanzania. This exhibition documents the soil erosion problem in Maasai land, its impact on local communities, their approaches to addressing the soil erosion challenge, and social science work towards co-developing solutions.
The images were produced by the photographer Vlad Zhischenko (@estranic) during a British Academy and GCRF-funded project led by Dr. Anna Rabinovich in collaboration with The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (Tanzania) and Maasai communities of the Monduli District in Tanzania. The project explored the group psychology of cooperation around rangelands management in pastoralist areas of the Monduli District, and how it can be harnessed to address the problem of soil erosion on shared land.
Anna Rabinovich is a Reader in Social Psychology and Sustainability in the School of Psychology, University of Sussex. Much of her research is dedicated to understanding and encouraging cooperation around shared environmental resources.
Opening times & events
Wednesday, Thursday & Friday: 1 – 6pm
Saturday: 1 – 4pm
Sunday, Monday & Tuesday: CLOSED
**Please note on Thursday 10th November the gallery will be open 3pm – 8pm**
Launch event: Thursday 10th November, 6 – 8pm
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This event is part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022 and was made possible thanks to funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
PASTRES is funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.
Image credit 1 (left side): photograph by Vlad Zhischenko (@estranic)
Image credit 2 (right side): photograph by Palden Tsering of pastoralists in Amdo Tibet carrying winter fodder for their animals
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Please contact or 01273 607101 if you have specific access needs, please note the gallery is wheelchair accessible but the toilet is up five stairs. We have hearing assistive technology and our staff have Basic BSL & Deaf Awareness training. For more information about access and facilities at ONCA please click here.
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