HIVer Transitions Into Spring
Fine Arts Students Shed Light on HIV/AIDS Awareness
For many people, the winter is a season that symbolizes dormancy, hardship, and vast periods of cold and emptiness.
The global perception of HIV/AIDS by those not directly affected by the disease similarly occupies a vast white space, a huge unknowing, and the curators of HIVer want you to make that connection. The transition from winter to spring is also a time for rebirth, and for change. The aim of the exhibit is to bring new awareness out of hibernation.
The issue of HIV/AIDS is one that seems to have largely fallen out of the consciousness of today’s youth since it was grabbing headlines in the late ‘80s. However, nearly 12 million people aged 15 to 24 are living with HIV/AIDS, making this an extremely important issue and not one to be overlooked.
“This [event] has been my baby since September, early October of last year,” said Emily Kirkman, event curator and graduate Art History student at Concordia. “We had to start planning, and then in January we put out a call for submissions and that went on until the end of February.”
The exhibit is in connection with Concordia’s special topics HIV/AIDS class, and this is the 17th time this particular exhibit has been held, with a different theme each year.
“This year we came up with the theme of hiver [winter] trying to express the bleakness, represented in the outlook of people living with HIV and AIDS,” explained Kirkman. “I think people still think that it’s taboo to talk about, so they avoid it. People think that they shouldn’t talk about it, but I think that they should, and that they need to.”
The show incorporates a variety of art pieces from 11 artists. “It’s a multimedia show right now,” said Kirkman “There will be projections, watercolour paintings, and there will be a performance at the vernissage.”
Collectively, the works hope to re-establish and highlight the significance of the disease today. The vernissage is happening at the VAV gallery on April 7, but the works will be up on display until April 14. The event is sponsored by the Concordia Council on Student Life, QPIRG Concordia and the Fine Arts Students’ Association.
HIVer: Concordia’s 17th Annual HIV/AIDS Exhibition vernissage / VAV Gallery / 1395 Rene Levesque / April 7 / 7:00 p.m.
This article originally appeared in Volume 31, Issue 29, published April 5, 2011.
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