INTRODUCTION TO BODY MAPPING
In February 2019, as part of a capacity-building workshop on qualitative monitoring,
ICAD introduced the concept of body mapping to twinning partners:
- As a tool to evaluate the impact of the twinning initiative as a whole
- To complement the quantitative monitoring within each project
- To understand experiences of nutrition and living with HIV in the broader context of people’s lives
- To engage women in the storytelling process
What is body mapping?
Body Mapping is the process of creating body maps using drawing, painting or other art-based techniques to visually represent aspects of people’s lives, their bodies and the world they live in.
Body mapping originated in South Africa as a therapeutic tool for women living with HIV. It evolved from Memory Box Project designed by Jonathan Morgan in Cape Town, South Africa. From its first use as a therapeutic tool, body mapping evolved to have many other uses, including advocacy, research, team building and evaluation.
Body Mapping Resources
Gagnon, M., Logie, C. & Whitbread, J. (2017). My Body, My Story: Body Mapping and HIV Treatment Side Effects Project Report. Ottawa, CANADA. Retrieved from Body-Mapping-and-HIV-Treatment-Side-Effects
Gastaldo, D., Magalhães, L., Carrasco, C., and Davy, C. (2012). Body-Map Storytelling as Research: Methodological considerations for telling the stories of undocumented workers through body mapping. Retrieved from view article
Solomon, Jane. (2007). “Living with X”: A body mapping journey in time of HIV and AIDS. Facilitator’s Guide. Psychosocial Wellbeing Series. Johannesburg: REPSSI. Retrieved from view article
