‘Not Alone – An international project of Make Art/Stop AIDS’
is a contemporary art exhibition featuring the work of artists from
Brazil, United States, India and South Africa. Through the power of art
the focus is placed on international solidarity to ameliorate the AIDS
epidemic’s far-reaching consequences and to promote the importance of
access to treatment.
The concept originated with the show ‘Make Art/Stop AIDS’
which premiered in February 2008 at the Fowler Museum at UCLA in Los
Angeles. The core exhibition is slightly changed, and also includes new
works from South Africa. This flexible format intends to focus on the
country that hosts the exhibition, whilst simultaneously offering an
international perspective in each country.
One of the iconic works is called ’Medicine Man’ and is made
up of over 300 medicine bottles and syringes used by the two American
artists, Daniel Goldstein and John Kapellas, who have lived HIV-Positive
for over twenty years.
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Another key work, the ‘Keiskamma Altarpiece’, celebrates the
renewed hope of life given to the community of Hamburg in the Eastern
Cape, after being provided with access to antiretroviral treatment. This
spectacular artwork has been embroidered, beaded and appliquéd by over 120
people in the district and is inspired by a sixteenth century work by
German artist, Matthias Grünewald, who created a painted altarpiece namely
the Isenheim Altarpiece. The ‘Keiskamma Altarpiece’ is large – 4.1 x 6.8
m when fully opened. It has recently been exhibited in cathedrals in the
USA and Britain, to great acclaim, and will be shown in Cape Town for the
first time at Iziko Museums.
The exhibition also features works by Indian folk artists
who use scrolls to speak to the community about HIV/AIDS. Represented is
the work of a pair of young artists, Jiten Thukral and Sumir Tagra, who
have recently become the hottest property in the contemporary art market.
Their playful painting refers to Bollywood movies and romantic notions of
love, whilst endorsing condom use.
Condoms have also been used by Brazilian artist, Adriana
Bertini, whose fashion creations made of brightly coloured condoms rival
any designer outfit. Included will be several mannequins with these
creations.
South African artists include Clive van den Berg, William
Kentridge, Churchill Madikida, Langa Magwa, Penelope Siopis, Gideon Mendel
and others.
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