Tuberculosis (TB) was once popularly depicted and even glamorized in art, especially among European literary figures, painters, and artists.¹ Today any glamor is replaced with stigma of infection, contagiousness, poverty, malnutrition, and HIV infection.¹ Stigma generally leads to isolation with attendant psychological, social, and economic costs, and some studies report it may contribute to delays in TB diagnosis and treatment, especially when the presence of health workers at a person鈥檚 home to administer direct observational therapy (DOT) might reveal their infection status to neighbors or community members closeby.^2,3

The visual artist Paulina Siniatkina uses her personal experience and art to fight the stigma of TB.⁴ In 2015 she spent 7 months in a TB clinic in Moscow. For the first 3 months she was not permitted to leave. Isolation from family and friends was difficult, as was finding motivation and meaningful activities. She was afraid and was advised by a physician not to tell anyone she contracted TB at the risk of being 鈥渂randed for life鈥�; she 鈥渢hought it [was] shameful to have TB....so, [she] kept silen[t],鈥� and soon learned that others in the clinic experienced the same feelings of isolation and stigma.⁴