How does a depleted and inflamed microbiota recover? Are there bacterial scars left by colonial trauma? How do ancestral practices address inflammation? How can we communicate with the ancestral microbes that live within us and in the environment? Can microbiota be given a voice? What are the specific characteristics of microbiota in the Global South? What is the scale of inflammation in the South?

microBIOMÁtica is a journey of bodily and environmental storytelling, and a somatic and territorial exercise in the active memory of internal and surrounding microbiomes. The project connects our microbial individuality with the biogeographical ecosystem and collective memory, adopting an open approach that listens to and nurtures our bodies by engaging with entities both within and beyond our bodily limits. It also seeks to weave a shared narrative that reconnects past, present, and future understandings of our environment.

The project yielded several outcomes: the development of a permanent infrastructure, the formation of a community around it, and the production of open-source documentation of the process.
First, a community-accessible biohacking laboratory was established by transforming a space within the LiquenLab facilities and equipping it with specialized tools and materials to support experimental and collaborative practices. This included the development of sampling and usage protocols, as well as training for individuals and groups in laboratory practices.

Around this space, a community emerged, bringing together scientists, members of local communities, and artists experimenting with somatic memory and the observation of microbiomes, particularly those of the gastrointestinal tract. A wide range of activities was developed to encourage observation, microbial sampling, reconnaissance mapping, analysis, and the archiving of bacteria.

Finally, a collection of materials -including books and fanzines- was produced and left as a resource for future use in the Lab, as part of the research process is also made accessible through the microBIOmática wiki.

kinkinella has spent 3 years exploring abdominal pain, chronic inflammation and microbial destruction of her intestinal organ, amid denial and medical blindness, pushing her toward the experience of self-management, microbiotic bioremediation, as well as the wish to rename things and cut self-inflicted circuits of narratives.