ABSTRACT
The Zika virus epidemic in Brazil mainly affected women and children and mobilized responses from science, society, and governments between 2015 and 2018. The Zika Social Sciences Network promoted the exhibition ‘Zika Affecting Lives’, an unprecedented event for Fiocruz 120th anniversary. This narrative aims to report the experience of constructing the exhibition, emphasizing the contribution of women - mothers, managers, health professionals, and researchers. The exhibition is a scientific dissemination device built collectively from October 2018 to August 2020. The method involved the participation of various groups and institutions affected by the epidemic representatives - researchers, users, professionals, and health managers - through interviews, workshops, and meetings. Such participation included the design, production, finalization, validation, and readaptation of the exhibition to an online version format, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The results show the potential and the challenges of collective construction - an experience that could affect other experiences. The exhibition’s narrative is made chiefly by women, from different viewpoints, based on the issues that affect them, and highlights their prominent role in mobilizing and responding to Zika in science, politics, and society.
KEYWORDS
Women; Zika virus; Disaster emergencies; Social participation; Scientific and educational events