A Day With(out) Art

Over 40 years into the epidemic and there is still no cure or vaccine for individuals who are HIV-positive. 38 million people are living with HIV and AIDS across the world, and more than 25% still do not have access to effective medication.

An Artitst Talk with the award-winning Stephen Andrews will be the launch event for a whole weekend centered around Andrews’ work in SOS. Join us 30 November at 7:00 p.m. in the Gallery to dive deeper into Andrews' artwork.

With the support of Visual AIDS, KWAG will observe the 35th annual Day With(out) Art multiple events of remembrance and action that use art to respond to the ongoing crisis. On Friday, 1 December from 9:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., we will be shrouding artworks by Stephen Andrews that are featured in SOS: A Story of Survival, Part II – The Body. As someone living with HIV since 1985, Andrews is an advocate for greater awareness of the ongoing epidemic. The shrouded artwork alludes to all that has been lost over the years and makes present something that continues to suffer from stigmatization.

On Saturday, 2 December from 1:00 - 2:00 p.m., join us for a video screening titled Everyone I Know is Sick. Organized by Visual AIDS, these five videos generate connections between HIV and other forms of illness and disability. It examines how society excludes disabled and sick people by upholding a false dichotomy of health and sickness. The commissioned artists foreground the knowledge and expertise of disabled and sick people in a world still grappling with multiple ongoing pandemics.

Everyone I Know is Sick features work by Dorothy Cheung (Hong Kong), Hlura Fernandes and Lili Nascimento (Brazil), Beau Gomez (Canada/Philippines), Dolissa Medina and Ananias P. Soria (United States), and Kurt Weston (United States).

(1) Kurt Weston, Losing the Light, 2023. Commissioned by Visual AIDS for Everyone I Know Is Sick

(2) Image: Vasilios Papapitsios, PARAPRONOIA, 2023. Commissioned by Visual AIDS for Everyone I Know Is Sick.