Being an Arts Activist - David Gere
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Our guest today 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.
The Ad Queen Changing Hearts and Minds - Swati Bhattacharya
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Our guest this week is Swati Bhattacharya, the first woman to become the Chief Creative Officer of a major advertising firm in India. She has fought throughout her career against advertising stereotypes, particularly around the traditional roles of women in India, whether as mothers, daughters, wives or widows. What makes her different from many of her male colleagues she says, is that, ‘Whatever project I work on I put my heart into it, I have never looked at my audience as product users, they are human beings.’ Her ground-breaking approach has won her company accolades and scores of international awards.
Swati has never been afraid to speak her mind, and a strong focus of her work has been campaigns to battle the widespread discrimination and stigma against transgender children and adults in India and around the world. In her opinion, most people have been battered and bruised in some way or another, but transgender particularly suffer -from homelessness, from sexual violence and from mental illness. She recalls that transgender women are up to 40% more likely to be HIV positive.
But if advertising is traditionally a means of increasing a company’s bottom line, how do you persuade a client like the Times of India to take on such controversial themes as a means of expanding business? And what has been the wider impact of Swati’s groundbreaking work?
Swati’s on Twitter: @techyswati
Exploring Gender through the Camera Lens - DeLovie Kwagala
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This week we are talking to the extraordinary DeLovie Kwagala, award winning photographer, artist and fighter for social justice. Identifying as non-binary, DeLovie grew up in Uganda, where they suffered an abusive childhood and learned about survival the very hard way. DeLovie was kidnapped from school at 7 years old, and grew up in isolation, ignored, rejected and sexually abused. But as they grew up and struggled to find their identity, DeLovie found a voice through the camera lens, as well as a means of supporting their young child. After several high-profile assignments, DeLovie was awarded the East African Photography Award in 2021. Fleeing discrimination in Uganda and narrowly escaping war in South Sudan, DeLovie’s story is truly one of survival ‘against the odds’ but also one that is surprisingly full of joy and creativity.
Walking the seven wonders - Jon Montoya
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This week we’re talking to adventurer, traveller, former ballet dancer and above all – walker – Jonatan Montoya. Jon has set out on a staggering journey – to go around the world on foot, visiting each of the world’s 7 Modern Wonders, a massive journey of over 80,000 kilometres. The sheer ambition is enough to take your breath away.
We catch up with Jon 2,000 miles into his journey. Despite sore feet and having to learn camping skills rapidly, Jon had made it to the first wonder of the world, the Temple of Chichen Itza in Mexico. It’s been a sharp learning curve, but Jon has loved the people he’s come across: ‘’People are so kind, I have fallen in love so many times along the way.”
His ‘Against the Odds’ moments in his life include his mother’s well-meaning but misguided childhood health tips, surviving a near-miss car crash while selling bootleg records on the street, avoiding becoming a professional ballet dancer, and his own mental health struggles as he grew up.
Jon’s motivation for his mega walk is to raise awareness and understanding of HIV. He reflects on his own fear of being infected with the disease as a teenager, a fear that grew to the point that he became celibate.
We discuss the cultural barriers to improving the HIV infection rates in Mexico. “We are taught that heterosexuality is the normal and correct way to be, and when you have this inner dialogue, it’s hard to talk about HIV.”
Since recording this episode, Jon has put his walk on hold and is looking for different ways to promote AIDS awareness.
In case you were wondering... The Seven Wonders of the Modern World are: the Taj Mahal, the Colosseum, the Chichen Itza, Machu Picchu, Christ the Redeemer, Petra, and the Great Wall of China.
To find out more, you can contact Jon: buenviajemyfriend@gmail.com
Edwin Cameron - Taking a risk
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We kick off our series with former South African court justice, HIV advocate and tireless defender of LGBTQ+ rights, Edwin Cameron. From his tough childhood growing up in a children’s home, he went on to an outstanding legal career, and was described by Nelson Mandela as ‘"one of South Africa’s new heroes". In this episode, Mr Cameron talks frankly about growing up as a poor white child in the apartheid era, about the trauma of getting diagnosed with HIV in the 1980s, and the difficult decision to declare his HIV status publicly – he is still the only prominent public figure in Africa to do so. "Sometimes, in appropriate circumstances, you’ve got to take a risk, and the risk, when you are doing the right thing, is often rewarded."
How have attitudes to HIV changed in South Africa since Edwin Cameron took that risk? And what gives him hope as the fight against the stigma of HIV continues?