How does the art world fight AIDS?

Since the start of the epidemic in the 1980s, the arts have worked to fight AIDS and change their outlook. A look back at significant achievements in the minds of the public.

Since the identification of the AIDS virus, a long way has been traveled: today, thanks to the effectiveness of the treatments, a screened and supported person can project themselves into the future because they have a similar life expectancy to the general population. Tasp (Treatment as prevention) has changed the life of HIV-positive people: we know today that a person who is HIV-positive on treatment and who has an undetectable viral load does not transmit the virus to his / her partner. In addition, in addition to the condom, there are very effective prevention strategies that are now available, such as Prep (pre-exposure prophylaxis) which protects people who are HIV negative.
Given these advances, in the vast majority of cases, a person living with HIV will never reach AIDS.
However, representations of the disease to the general public in its early days were much more negative: it was spoken of as a mysterious disease that cannot be cured. Art has helped to change the representation of the epidemic, and continues today. On July 4, find thanks to the AIDES association a cultural e-event for a celebration of love, an ode to life, a cultural and artistic parenthesis and to collect donations against AIDS!

Alert, pay tribute and change your outlook

The artists and activists first of all tried to alert about this disease, ignored by the public authorities. Associations of activists thus seek to denounce the inaction of the States by spectacular actions, at the borders between art and provocation. An Act Up service in New York produces alternative television programs for people who do not have access to the media. In 1993, the same association placed a giant condom in Paris on the Concorde obelisk.
Art also paid tribute. Thus in the 80s began the greatest collaborative and popular work of art in the world: the patchwork of names.
This immense embroidery work is made up of thousands of pieces sewn since its creation in 1987 to pay tribute to people who died of the disease.
At that time, many people who died of AIDS did not receive a funeral, due both to the social stigma of AIDS felt by surviving family members and the categorical refusal of many funeral homes and cemeteries. occupy the remains of the deceased. In the absence of a memorial service or burial site, the deployment of the Patchwork was often the only opportunity that survivors could take advantage of to commemorate and celebrate the lives of the missing loved ones.

In 1993, the film Phialdelphia portrayed the fight for justice for people affected by the disease. The film is based on a true story of an American lawyer who, in 1987, took his powerful employer to court to establish that he had been dismissed not for malpractice, but because he was sick with AIDS.
This film was nevertheless decried by associations for its very melodramatic treatment of life with HIV.
In 1997, Maurice BĂ©jart took up the subject with a ballet in tribute to people who died of AIDS, including his favorite dancer or even Freddie Mercury, whose music punctuates this ballet. The show aims to show that art is stronger than death.
Today, in the 21st century, the disease is still there, but we live well with it.
Recently the film 120 beats per minute has also worked to change the representation of HIV. The work is distinguished in Cannes and delights the general public, conquered by the energy of this struggle, and this love story.

Talk about it freely today

Video by Mathilde Wattecamps

Today, it is the will of associations to send a positive message. We must continue to fight the disease, since more than 170,000 people are living with HIV, including 24,000 people who do not know it.
It can be done in a joyful way, talking about sex, love, talking about it freely. This is the will of the AIDES association, which is organizing an e-event on July 4, entitled # fĂȘtelamour to celebrate love in all its forms, talk about sex, prevention and screening, and collect donations to finance the fight against HIV / AIDS. Many exceptional personalities will be gathered throughout the day on the subject.
Go to https://fetelamour.fr/!

AIDES is the first association fighting against HIV in Europe. You will find on the site a detailed map allowing you to find all their screening actions everywhere in France. The association plays a major role in improving the consideration of patients in the health system. HIV testing is more important than ever, and early detection in particular. People who test positive for HIV will get treatment very quickly to stop the virus from spreading.
This prevention and screening work requires a lot of resources. This is why it is important to support associations by making a donation (this donation gives the right to a tax deduction of 66% of the amount of your donation). 40 euros donation represents 200 prevention kits distributed, that is to say condoms and gel. 80 euros is six self-test tests sent. 160 euros can help two people to be screened and, above all, accompanied. To make a donation, you can go here. You can also do this by offering 10 euros per sms. Send FETELAMOUR to 92 612.