‘Not Alone’ international exhibition launch reinforces message of hope
“Twelve years ago, the virus raged through my body and I was faced with death …When treatment became available, I started on it, knowing joyfully and triumphantly that my life would be given back to me.” These were the opening words of Judge Edwin Cameron at the Johannesburg launch of the international exhibition, ‘Not Alone’ - a collaborative tribute to the lives lost and the triumphs gained in the struggle against HIV and AIDS.
The ‘Not Alone’ international touring exhibition is a Make Art/Stop AIDS Project, an initiative by Professor David Gere from UCLA that seeks to use the arts in combating the spread of HIV and AIDS.
The exhibition funded by The Ford Foundation and The United States Consulate celebrates the creative works of artists across the globe. Todd Haskell, Acting Consulate General of the American Consulate said “local and international efforts” are needed in successfully addressing HIV and AIDS.
This exhibition marks the beginning of a major partnership between Make Art/Stop Aids and the University of Witwatersrand’s Drama for Life (DFL) programme.
The exhibition runs from June 19 to August 23, 2009 and will include live performances by Drama for Life.
Make Art/Stop Aids and Drama for life’s collaboration was initiated in March this year when Professor David Gere visited Drama for Life courtesy of The United States Consulate.
The presentation by Professor David Gere and the feedback from the DFL Scholars created a natural partnership and finally culminated in the opening of the ‘Not Alone’ Exhibition on Sunday July 19.
The images on display at the launch varied from confrontational and raw to those of lighthearted condom campaigns showing the sexier side of using protection. But perhaps the most telling, judging by the audience numbers they attracted were, ‘Medicine Man’, ‘We are Living’ and ‘The Keiskamma Altarpiece’.
‘Medicine Man’ presents an almost body like structure made from a 20 year collection of Antiretroviral (ARV) tablet bottles. The bottles collected belong to the two American artists who made the piece and former lovers, Daniel Goldstein and John Kapellas and, their close network of friends. Surrounding these bottles and pointing inwards are red tipped syringes used to draw medication. Both bottles and syringes show the overdependency on the drugs for survival.
Reading more into ‘Medicine Man’ and contrasting it with the rest of the images in the room, one can not help but notice the socio-economic and political facets the epidemic has. The American artist’s lives are saved by early access to the drugs and it was only in 2004 that ARVs were made available in South Africa and to date, issues of accessibility are still a concern.
Moving on to the next image and showing the success of ARV drug treatment one is presented with the 99 living faces from Lusikisiki. Before 2004 most of the faces represented were probably close to death but now, one is met with an image of 99 faces of the young and old, smiling back, grateful for life.
The message of hope and triumph continues to be reinforced throughout the exhibition as one moves to the towering ‘Keiskamma Altarpiece’ that concluded the tour. ‘The Kesikamma Altarpiece’ is an adaptation of the 16th century Isenheim altarpiece and was created by 120 women from the village of Hamburg in the Eastern Cape. The artistic embroidery work done by the women tells the story of how their village is severely affected by HIV and AIDS.
Dull colours are used on the front panels, showing misery, disease and death. On either side of the panels where biblical figures would have stood in the original Isenheim Altarpiece, images of two of the village’s elderly women are used instead. The women represent the strength of the community. The panels are opened from the centre outwards and the village comes to life. Bursting with colour one discovers birds, fish, water and vegetation; these images symbolize a time when ARV’s were made available and hope was restored as community members regained their strength.
The panels open again to reveal oversized black and white pictures of orphaned children and their grandmothers who, as described by Dr. Carol Hofmeyer the director of the Keiskamma Trust, “Stand up in all their solidity, resilience and fight the disease daily.”
Drama for Life’s presence at the launch was felt by all when the engaging and interactive poetry and dance performances injected life into the exhibition. More performances by Drama for Life scholars will continue with two performances per week and then intensifying in the last week of the exhibition when the Drama for Life Festival is opened.
The festival will run from August 20 to September 5 2009. The overlapping of ‘Not Alone’ Exhibition and the Drama for Life Festival was deliberately designed to cement the collaboration between the two institutions and the visual and performing arts.