Episode 5: David Gere - Being an Arts Activist

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.