Our guest this week is David Gere, who calls himself an ‘Artivist.’ He is that rare being, a creative artist and writer, academic and activist, who crosses traditional boundaries with ease. David remembers the experience of seeing close friends affected and dying of AIDS in 1980s San Francisco, and his growing conviction that it might be possible to use art to change behaviours and attitudes, ‘I really thought of art as being about expression, getting things out, having a full life … it was about beauty … yes, it was about beauty, but it was also about Action.’
David started his professional career as an arts critic in the San Francisco Bay area, was co-chair of the International Dance Critics Association, and is the founding director of the Art and Global Health Center at UCLA, the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a writer and essayist with many publications to his name, including the prize-winning book How to Make Dances in an Epidemic: Tracking Choreography in the Age of AIDS. And he has created and curated a series of exhibitions and projects, showcasing art that shines a light on public health issues, especially the HIV/AIDS epidemic. His most recent endeavor is the multi-media photo-storytelling project ‘Through Positive Eyes.’
Can artistic work have a real impact on attitudes and prejudices? And if so, how? David reflects on what happened when the hero in a popular soap opera in India reveals himself as HIV positive, and on handing cameras to HIV positive people to tell their own stories.
More about David here
Through Positive Eyes photo storytelling project here
UNAIDS is pleased to announce the launch of a podcast series called ‘Against the Odds.’ This is a series of frank conversations with guests whose lives have been touched in many different ways by HIV. We find out about the challenges they’ve faced, and what inspires them to strive for what may seem impossible goals.
In this brand-new podcast, UNAIDS asks some extraordinary people what made them winners when all the odds were stacked against them. How did they overcome life changing challenges? And what have they learned along the way?
Featured are a prize-winning photographer, a top-level lawyer, committed social activists, artists and creators - all amazing individuals who are passionate about what they do. All have been affected by HIV and AIDS, either directly or indirectly, and all share personal stories of challenge and survival.
At UNAIDS, we guide and bring together the global effort to end AIDS. What we’ve learnt in the HIV response is that progress is never given, it is won. It depends on the power of people challenging the people in power.
Brought to you by UNAIDS, you can listen to ‘Against the Odds’ wherever you get your podcasts. If you can, do please subscribe so you’ll get the next episode delivered straight to your inbox.
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UNAIDS
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
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