Source: University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences

Released: Thu 02-Nov-2006, 12:00 ET  Printer-friendly Version

Fowler Museum Presents Art Exhibits For World AIDS Day

Image Gallery Credit: Photo by Daniel Delauna From Dress Up Against AIDS: Condom Couture by Adriana Bertiini   Click image to view fullsize   Image 1 of 2

Newswise — Now in its 19th year, World AIDS Day aims to bring attention to the worldwide challenges and consequences of the AIDS epidemic, in order to prevent the spread of HIV and improve the lives of people living with the virus. On Dec. 1, 2006 UCLA will present a day-long, campus-wide, cross-departmental commemoration of World AIDS Day 2006, including the opening of two major art installations: ‘Dress Up Against AIDS: Condom Couture by Adriana Bertini’ on display at the Fowler Museum, and ‘The Keiskamma Altarpiece: Transcending AIDS in South Africa’ on display in the Glorya Kaufman Dance Theater.

Dress Up Against AIDS: Condom Couture by Adriana Bertini
Fowler Museum at UCLA
December 1, 2006-March 11, 2007

‘Dress Up Against AIDS’ features fourteen magnificent garments designed and produced by Brazilian artist Adriana Bertini, made entirely of men’s and women’s condoms rejected by industry quality tests. By appropriating an object of protection and using it to create works of vibrant and original style, color, and texture, Bertini seeks to raise awareness of and inspire the use of condoms, the critical vehicle for preventing HIV transmission. These colorful, sensual clothes, including ornate evening dresses, vivid skirts and tops, and elegant suits, demystify and destigmatize condoms and “refashion” them as objects associated with pleasure.

The Keiskamma Altarpiece: Transcending AIDS in South Africa
Kaufman Hall, UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures
Dec. 1, 2006, Glorya Kaufman Dance Theater
Jan. 10-March 11, 2007, Kaufman #208 (Amber Studio)

This monumental, multi-panel artwork was created by 130 women from South Africa’s Eastern Cape province — an area of the world hard hit by AIDS — to commemorate the lives and memory of individuals there who have died of the disease and to celebrate the community’s determination to prevail in the face of AIDS.

Based on the famed Isenheim altarpiece created by Matthias Grünewald in 16th-century Germany to celebrate the region’s deliverance from a plague, the colossal ‘Keiskamma Altarpiece’ uses embroidery, beadwork, wire sculpture, and photographs to offer a message of hope. Measuring 13 feet high by 22 feet long, the vibrant and colorful altarpiece is composed of a series of hinged panels that utilize the imagery of the Xhosa people of the Eastern Cape to depict life in the region before — and after — AIDS engulfed South Africa. Fully opened, the altarpiece reveals dramatic, life-size photographs of three local grandmothers and their grandchildren, some orphaned by AIDS, and their hope for the future.

The collaborating institutions listed below have been touring this elaborate altarpiece across North America, beginning at Toronto’s Cathedral Church of St. James in July during the World AIDS Conference. It then was on display at St. James Episcopal Cathedral in Chicago through Sept. 20, and will tour churches in Los Angeles and Pasadena throughout the fall and winter under the auspices of Artists for a New South Africa before its exhibition at UCLA.

This Fowler presentation is part of MAKE ART/STOP AIDS, an arts and AIDS awareness and prevention initiative developed by the UCLA Art | Global Health Center in partnership with the Fowler, UCLA’s AIDS Institute and Department of World Arts and Cultures, the Durban Art Gallery, Artists for a New South Africa, and the Magic Johnson Foundation. Made possible in part by UCLA’s Center for Community Partnerships and Office of Instructional Development, UCIRA, and the Liberty Hill Foundation. Additional support provided by the Brazilian Consulate of Los Angeles, Hotel Angeleno, and South African Airways.

World AIDS Day Events @ UCLA
Dec. 1, 2006 12 noon
Knowledge Is Power Rally

Speakers and more, including rapid, anonymous, and free HIV testing. Bruin Plaza
1–5 pm AIDS & The Moving Image 3

UCLA’s Film & Television Archive Research and Study Center and Instructional Media Collections and Services present a mix of programming from the past twenty years offering a visual timeline of the evolution of the AIDS crisis in moving image mass media. Media Lab, Powell Library, Room 270

1:30 pm Never Give Up: A View from South Africa

An eye-opening vocal performance and conversation featuring Eunice Mangwane, AIDS educator and one of the subjects featured in the Keiskamma Altarpiece. Glorya Kaufman Dance Theater

3–3:45 pm Painting with Condoms

A conversation with artist Adriana Bertini and David Gere, director, Art | Global Health Center and co-chair and associate professor in World Arts and Cultures. Fowler Museum

3:45-5 pm Pleasure…Little Treasure
Explore the power of condoms, as protection against HIV, and as an artistic medium. Create condom sculptures with the help of artist Adriana Bertini, and converse with health educators about condom use and AIDS prevention. Fowler Museum

6 pm 48 Hours to Action
Multi-disciplinary program featuring music, spoken word, and video. $6. Glorya Kaufman Dance Theater

About the Collaborators
Fowler Museum at UCLA
The Fowler Museum explores art and material culture primarily from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and the Americas, past and present. The Fowler seeks to enhance understanding and appreciation of the diverse peoples, cultures, and religions of the world through highly contextualized interpretive exhibitions, publications, and public programming, informed by interdisciplinary approaches and the perspectives of the cultures represented. http://www.fowler.ucla.edu

UCLA AIDS Institute
The UCLA AIDS Institute is a multidisciplinary think tank drawing on the skills of top-flight researchers in the worldwide fight against HIV and AIDS, the first cases of which were reported in 1981 by UCLA physicians. Institute members, led by Dr. Irvin Chen, include researchers in virology and immunology, genetics, cancer, neurology, ophthalmology, epidemiology, social science, public health, nursing, and disease prevention. Their findings have led to advances in treating HIV as well as other diseases, such as hepatitis B and C, influenza, and cancer. http://www.uclaaidsinstitute.org

The Art | Global Health Center at UCLA
The Art | Global Health Center at UCLA serves as the umbrella for the international Make Art/Stop AIDS project, a network of artists working with experts in public health and medicine to intervene in the AIDS epidemic. The exhibition of ‘The Keiskamma Altarpiece’ marks the inauguration of this new center, which is directed by David Gere, associate professor and co-chair of the UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures.

Artists for a New South Africa
Artists for a New South Africa (ANSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to combating the African AIDS pandemic and advancing democracy and equality in South Africa. ANSA also works to further civil rights and safeguard voting rights in the U.S. In partnership with South African and American organizations, grassroots movements, leaders, artists and activists, ANSA works to make a difference through public education and mobilization, advocacy, grantmaking, media campaigns and the provision of material aid. http://www.ansafrica.org

Visiting the Fowler and Kaufman Hall
The Fowler is open Wednesdays through Sundays, noon to 5 pm; and on Thursdays, noon until 8 pm. The Museum is closed Mondays and Tuesdays. The Museum, part of UCLA’s School of the Arts and Architecture, is located in the north part of the UCLA campus. Kaufman Hall is adjacent to the Fowler Museum, and ‘The Keiskamma Altarpiece’ will be on display there during regular Museum hours. Admission is free. Parking is available for a maximum $8 in Lot 4. For more information, the public may call (310) 825-4361 or visit http://fowler.ucla.edu.