Artist-in-Residence Letitia Fraser shares her artistic practice and research on medicinal herbs used by enslaved individuals.

This hybrid talk is free and open to the public.

Speaker: Letitia Fraser, Artist-in-Residence Fellow, Summer 2025

Moderator: Dr. Charmaine A. Nelson, Provost Professor of Art History & Founding Director Slavery North

Lecture: Healing Herbs: From West Africa to Nova Scotia

Lecture abstract:

How did the enslaved heal? And who carried the knowledge that’s been passed orally through generations all the way from West Africa to Nova Scotia. This talk focuses on medicinal herbs, the hands that healed, and their connection through the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Bio:

Letitia Fraser is an interdisciplinary artist, whose work centres around her experience as an African Nova Scotian woman, growing up in the province’s Black communities of North Preston and Beechville. Descending from a long line of artists, her creative instincts were nurtured early in life. Through a combination of painting and textiles, she unearths previously untold narratives and pays homage to her community’s history of quilting. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the 2018 Nova Scotia Talent Trust RBC Emerging Artist Award and was longlisted for the 2022 Sobey Art Award. Her work is included in several private and public collections including the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Scotiabank, the Canada Council and the Wedge Collection.