Tag Archives: World AIDS Day

A Day Without Art

New York City’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center (The Center) has partnered with Visual AIDS for their Day With(out) Art program as part of its World AIDS Day programming that kicks off tomorrow, Dec. 1st. Visual AIDS is a New York-based non-profit that utilizes art to fight AIDS by provoking dialogue, supporting HIV+ artists, and preserving a legacy, because AIDS is not over. Each year Visual AIDS commissions videos from artists and partners with various cultural institutions/organizations throughout the world to present these short films. 

This year’s program is called ENDURING CARE. It will run on a continuous loop during The Center’s operating hours inside the Keith Haring Bathroom/”Once Upon a Time…”  The community will have time and space to view the program, reflect on the topic of HIV/AIDS, remember the life/work of Keith, and learn more about the communities he fought for and supported.

The program highlights strategies of community care within the ongoing HIV epidemic and features newly commissioned work by Katherine Cheairs, Cristóbal Guerra, Danny Kilbride, Abdul-Aliy A. Muhammad and Uriah Bussey, Beto Pérez, Steed Taylor, and J Triangular and the Women’s Video Support Project.

The program can be viewed in person at The Center or online.

World AIDS Day

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Designated on December 1st every year since 1988, World AIDS Day is an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection, and for mourning those who have died of the disease. This year’s theme is “global solidarity and shared responsibility,” and is a call for global unification to work together to help beat the coronavirus, end AIDS, and guarantee the right to healthcare for all.  You can learn more about World AIDS Day at the UNAIDS website here.

Keith Haring died of AIDS-related complications at the age of 31 on February 16, 1990. Throughout his life he used his art to call attention to social inequity, including the United States government’s disastrous response to the AIDS crisis in the early 1980’s.  On December 4th you can stream the new documentary Keith Haring: Street Art Boy as part of PBS American masters series here, and learn about Keith’s life, art, and the efforts he made to confront injustice.

Silence = Death

Dec 1, World AIDS Day

Once Upon a Time... mural
Once Upon a Time… 1989 © Keith Haring Foundation, Photo by Tseng Kwong Chi, 1989 © Muna Tseng Dance Projects, Inc., New York

In May of 1989, Keith painted his mural Once Upon a Time… in a bathroom at The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center (known colloquially as The Center) in New York City.

Keith viewed this mural as a memorial to the casualties of AIDS, and to the loss of a time when expression of sexual freedom could be experienced as a joyful celebration.  The mural still exists today, and the room is no longer a bathroom, but functions as a sanctuary and place of contemplation for many people impacted by the AIDS crisis.

The Center has been a home and resource hub for the LGBT community, NYC residents, and visitors since its founding in 1983.  It provides a place to connect and engage, find camaraderie and support, and celebrate the vibrancy and growth of the LGBT community.  The Center offers the LGBTQ communities of NYC advocacy, health and wellness programs; arts, entertainment and cultural events; recovery, parenthood and family support services.

To learn more about The Center, and how you can visit the mural, go to https://gaycenter.org

World AIDS Day, designated on December 1st every year since 1988, is an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have died of the disease.

Keith Haring painting Once Upon a Time...
Photo by Tseng Kwong Chi, 1989 © Muna Tseng Dance Projects, Inc., New York

December 1, 2018

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Ignorance = Fear, Silence = Death, Act Up poster, 1989
Ignorance = Fear, Silence = Death, Act Up poster, 1989

This year marks the 30thanniversary of World AIDS Day.  World AIDS Day is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, to show support for people living with HIV, and to commemorate those who have died from AIDS-related illness.  Founded in 1988, World AIDS Day was the first ever global health day.

There are an estimated 37 million people living with the virus worldwide today.  Despite the virus only being identified in 1984, more than 35 million people have died of HIV or AIDS, making it one of the most destructive pandemics in history.

Today, scientific advances have been made in HIV treatment, there are laws to protect people living with HIV, and we have much more knowledge about the condition.  And, after over 30 years of the HIV pandemic, the world may soon witness the birth of an AIDS-free generation, with new infections in children reduced by more than half globally. 

However, World AIDS Day serves as an important reminder that HIV has not gone away – preventative outreach and lifelong treatment remain vital, and stigma and discrimination are still a reality for many people living with the condition. The need to provide care, raise awareness, fight prejudice, and improve education persists.

During his lifetime Keith Haring worked to raise awareness of the disease.  Before succumbing to AIDS-related illness in 1990, he established the Keith Haring Foundation to help continue the fight against HIV.

To learn more about World AIDS Day visit https://www.worldaidsday.org

And to learn how you can help in the fight towards achieving an AIDS-free generation visit  http://www.pedaids.org

AIDS mural Barcelona
Together We Can Stop AIDS, mural, Barcelona, 1989
AIDS Hotline poster, NYC, 1989
AIDS Hotline poster, NYC, 1989

UNAIDS releases its 2015 World AIDS Day report

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World AIDS Day 2015UNAIDS is an organization that works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030. The new report shows how communities, cities and countries around the world are using innovative approaches to reach more people with life-changing HIV services. You can read and download the report here.

World AIDS Day, observed annually on December 1st, was established in 1988 and is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic and to commemorating those who have died from the disease

To learn more about UNAIDS and ways to participate in World AIDS Day visit unaids.org

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