Case Study: Silabha Art and Culture Programme
Cultural approaches are a vital part of the AIDS response and can engage, educate and empower people around HIV and AIDS in ways that other media can not. Cultural expressions help HIV prevention and health promotion, address stigma and discrimination, and provide support to people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS.
In planning the Culture Program for AIDS2004, the original plan was to focus on Art and Culture from Thailand and not necessarily related to HIV and AIDS. The Community Programme Committee argued strongly that it was necessary to showcase “HIV Culture” from around the globe and not only the local culture of Thailand.
In the end, the Silabha Art and Cultural Program featured over 190 performance artists, poets, dancers, musicians, singers, painters, quilt makers, photographers and filmmakers from 33 countries with all continents represented. A number of the Silabha artists were HIV positive and all were using art to work on HIV issues within their communities. A number of exhibitions and performances were held at the conference site in both the Global Village and session halls, and the rest was held at venues throughout the city of Bangkok.
In one programme titled ‘Living Art: Regional Artists Respond to HIV’, artists from around Southeast Asia were brought to Thailand two weeks before the exhibition opened and stayed with children at the Camillian Center in Rayong, learning about their lives and HIV challenges. These artists then created art related to their experiences. Some artists were already working on AIDS issues, for others it was a new direction in their work. The ‘Living Art’ project continued beyond the Conference, with artists maintaining contacts with the children and continuing to work on AIDS issues through their art.
Living Art Exhibition
Another programme titled ‘AFRICASIA INTERACTION on AIDS’ brought African and Asian performers together to showcase theatre, music, dance and spoken word from both regions. The art paralleled a theme of African-Asian knowledge exchange in a number of sessions in the Global Village. The programme built on the strengths of each continent and allowed artists from different regions to share lessons around responding to HIV/AIDS through art and culture.
Condom Suit by Brazilian Artist Adriana Bertini
Another highlight was Brazilian artist Adriana Bertini, who displayed some of her condom clothing. These beautiful and colorful pieces of fashion entertain while also promoting HIV prevention. With no scholarship and little personal funding, Adriana fundraised to support her travel to Bangkok. Her impressive collection of 12 dresses made entirely from condoms won the attention of all entering the registration hall and received international media attention. Still searching for funding to get home, the entire collection was bought by an art collector attending the conference who committed to use the dresses for condom education projects around the world.
Aerialist and performance artist Michael Kleiman performs on a red ribbon, ten metres above the heads of the audience in the Forum on Artists Living with HIV.