On Saturday, November 30, Arsenał Municipal Gallery will join the celebrations of World AIDS Day next to such institutions as The Broad, Los Angeles; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago and Casco in Utrecht. We will show films from the Visual AIDS archive and discuss the HIV virus in Poland. We will discuss topics related to the stigmatization of people living with HIV and their being in a precarious position as well as deconstruct myths that have accumulated around the disease. We will give the floor to the groups most exposed to the lack of structural assistance in HIV / AIDS prevention and treatment, i.e. people with a precarious status, ethnic and sexual minorities, as well as a group of middle-aged people who underestimate the possibility of infection. Recognising that ignorance and silence are the most dangerous diseases, we will try to find an antidote to them. The event accompanies the exhibition Creative Sick States: AIDS, HIV, CANCER.
We will screen films from the Visual AIDS archive by: Shanti Avirgan, Nguyen Tan Hoang, Carl George, Viva Ruiz, Iman Shervington, Jack Waters / Victor F.M. Torres i Derrick Woods-Morrow.
Seven short films will focus on such topics as counteracting the stigma of people living with HIV in New Orleans as well as sex and its impact on the culture of Chicago. The pioneering character of AIDS activism and its intergenerational significance will be emphasized. The title of the event refers to Gregg Bordowitz's statement: "The AIDS crisis is beginning over and over again". Our program does not solve problems or draw conclusions; we take into account the continuity of issues related to HIV / AIDS in the modern times.
Visual AIDS is a non-profit organization based in New York City that uses the art medium to fight AIDS. It provokes dialogue, supports artists living with HIV and preserves their heritage, because AIDS is not over till it's over. In 1989, Visual AIDS organized the first Day Without Art, or a call issued to the art world to mourn and respond to the AIDS crisis. Thirty years later, more than 100 institutions around the world are taking part in Day With(out) Art, starting over and over again. Thus, they acknowledge the essence of the work of artists, activists and cultural workers who have responded to the AIDS crisis in the past, while emphasizing the continuous presence of the epidemic in our lives.
* The phrase appeared for the first time in Bordowitz's Drive installation (2002) and was recently displayed as a banner in the Art Institute of Chicago.
participants:
Błażej Rozpłochowski (doctor of Medical Sciences, infectious diseases specialist)
Paweł Ziemba (activist, IT specialist, coach)
Agnieszka Świderska (educator, Foundation for Social Education)
Bartek Arobal Kociemba (artist)
moderators: Zofia nierodzińska, Jacek Zwierzyński