UCLA AIDS Institute in the World
Art Has the Power to Save Lives
UCLA AIDS INSTITUTE INSIDER
OCTOBER 2004
A UCLA professor mobilizes artists from across the Indian subcontinent to combat that nation’s burgeoning epidemic For
David Gere, an associate professor in the World Arts and Cultures Department at UCLA, “make art/stop aids” is not just a
slogan—it is an all-embracing commitment to using socially-engaged artists as footsoldiers in the campaign to contain the
rapidly expanding HIV epidemic in India, where at least 5 million people are already infected and a staggering 20 million
more may be infected in the next decade.
To avert this humanitarian catastrophe, Gere has sought out scores of indigenous Indian artists who have incorporated
AIDS education and prevention messages into their art, and has encouraged these artists to enlist the help of others in
their field, to build a national network of AIDS activists whose primary means of communication is the visual and performing
arts.
Gere, his partner, Peter Carley, and their two young children spent the first six months of this year in India, on a Fulbright
Scholarship that Gere was awarded to identify an extraordinary assortment of traditional and contemporary artists—among
them puppeteers, scroll painters, itinerant theatrical troupes, street musicians, and choreographers—who had
independently recognized the importance of making art that would help stop the spread of AIDS.
Some of these arts projects are tiny, some huge, but all deal proactively with the factors that have promoted the spread of
HIV infection worldwide, chief among them the stigma that is associated with AIDS because it is transmitted primarily
through sexual contact and intravenous drug use. Gere found that the array of artistic projects currently being developed
in India, in response to the widening epidemic, is stunning in its variety and its sheer creativity. He notes, for example,
that a science teacher named H.N. Girish, who lives in a village near Mysore, has designed a roadside shrine that he calls
the “AIDS-Amma,” a benevolent new goddess who consoles those who are HIV-positive—and a bold attempt to piggyback
social support for HIV-afficted individuals and their families onto native religious practices. According to Gere, Girish was
inspired to create this symbol of succor for people living with HIV when two such individuals, a couple living in his village,
were ostracized when they revealed their HIV status, went bankrupt when no one would any longer buy goods from their
shop, and committed suicide.
Another example of how India is responding to its epidemic, altogether different but equally inspiring, is a television show
named for its eponymous hero, Jasoos Vijay. This weekly detective show, which reaches some 100 million viewers and is
ranked among the top ten most-watched programs in India, features a private investigator who is HIV-positive—and story
lines that involve characters who are shunned, set upon, and sometimes even killed for being seropositive.
In rural West Bengal, by contrast, the educational medium is scroll paintings. Traditionally, local artists have produced
scrolls on mythological themes, and then sung a narrative to accompany the slow unrolling of the scrolls. But in response
to the insidious spread of HIV, which has found its way to areas of India that do not yet have indoor plumbing or
electricity—but do have people who harbor the AIDS virus—these artists have created scrolls than warn of the dangers of
HIV infection, and they are singing new, cautionary songs.
As Gere traveled throughout India, he heard the same story again and again: the artists he encountered who were using
their art to inform mostly rural, mostly illiterate audiences about the threat of AIDS all felt that they are working alone,
usually without official support and all too often in cultural isolation—unaware that other artists, elsewhere in India, were
working with a similar degree of passion and commitment towards the same end. These artists were avid for an opportunity
to meet with others who were similarly concerned about the spread of HIV, to share ideas, to benefit from constructive
criticism in a supportive environment, and to rejuvenate themselves for the work that lies ahead.
Gere provided them with that opportunity, by organizing a four-day workshop in Kolkata in early July under the banner
“make art/stop aids.” A rallying point for all those committed to a collaborative response to containing the HIV epidemic in
India, this workshop involved sixty participants, including performing and visual artists from seven different states in India.
The workshop entailed performances as well as candid, informal discussions among the artists, AIDS activists, journalists,
healthcare providers, representatives of governmental institutions and non-governmental organizations, and concerned
citizens. The Indian participants also had an opportunity to link their work to a larger global web of AIDS cultural activism,
through the active participation of international performer-activists from locations as diverse as the United States, South
Africa, Suriname, Bangladesh, Nepal, and the United Kingdom.
On July 6, 2004, Gere convened a day-long event at the India Habitat Centre in Delhi, as an extension and summation of
the workshop in Kolkata. The purpose of the event in Delhi was to extend the dialogue to key decision-makers in the public
sphere. Through the “make art/stop aids” workshop in Kolkata and the subsequent presentations in Delhi—both of which
were funded in part by the UCLA AIDS Institute—Gere sought to generate enthusiasm, at the national level, for an active
interventionist role in the prevention and treatment of AIDS in India. His good intentions have apparently been rewarded: A
dozen model projects are now awaiting funding, and one of these has moved ahead without any outside funding at all. The
Tambaram Sanitarium, the largest HIV care-provider in the country,has entered into a year-long contract with Nalamdana,
a Chennai-based street theater group, to ofer short AIDS prevention performances for the thousand citizens who line up
each morning for basic healthcare. To borrow an Indian turn of phrase, it’s an auspicious start.
Art Has the Power to Save Lives
UCLA AIDS INSTITUTE INSIDER
OCTOBER 2004
A UCLA professor mobilizes artists from across the Indian subcontinent to combat that nation’s burgeoning epidemic For
David Gere, an associate professor in the World Arts and Cultures Department at UCLA, “make art/stop aids” is not just a
slogan—it is an all-embracing commitment to using socially-engaged artists as footsoldiers in the campaign to contain the
rapidly expanding HIV epidemic in India, where at least 5 million people are already infected and a staggering 20 million
more may be infected in the next decade.
To avert this humanitarian catastrophe, Gere has sought out scores of indigenous Indian artists who have incorporated
AIDS education and prevention messages into their art, and has encouraged these artists to enlist the help of others in
their field, to build a national network of AIDS activists whose primary means of communication is the visual and performing
arts.
Gere, his partner, Peter Carley, and their two young children spent the first six months of this year in India, on a Fulbright
Scholarship that Gere was awarded to identify an extraordinary assortment of traditional and contemporary artists—among
them puppeteers, scroll painters, itinerant theatrical troupes, street musicians, and choreographers—who had
independently recognized the importance of making art that would help stop the spread of AIDS.
Some of these arts projects are tiny, some huge, but all deal proactively with the factors that have promoted the spread of
HIV infection worldwide, chief among them the stigma that is associated with AIDS because it is transmitted primarily
through sexual contact and intravenous drug use. Gere found that the array of artistic projects currently being developed
in India, in response to the widening epidemic, is stunning in its variety and its sheer creativity. He notes, for example,
that a science teacher named H.N. Girish, who lives in a village near Mysore, has designed a roadside shrine that he calls
the “AIDS-Amma,” a benevolent new goddess who consoles those who are HIV-positive—and a bold attempt to piggyback
social support for HIV-afficted individuals and their families onto native religious practices. According to Gere, Girish was
inspired to create this symbol of succor for people living with HIV when two such individuals, a couple living in his village,
were ostracized when they revealed their HIV status, went bankrupt when no one would any longer buy goods from their
shop, and committed suicide.
Another example of how India is responding to its epidemic, altogether different but equally inspiring, is a television show
named for its eponymous hero, Jasoos Vijay. This weekly detective show, which reaches some 100 million viewers and is
ranked among the top ten most-watched programs in India, features a private investigator who is HIV-positive—and story
lines that involve characters who are shunned, set upon, and sometimes even killed for being seropositive.
In rural West Bengal, by contrast, the educational medium is scroll paintings. Traditionally, local artists have produced
scrolls on mythological themes, and then sung a narrative to accompany the slow unrolling of the scrolls. But in response
to the insidious spread of HIV, which has found its way to areas of India that do not yet have indoor plumbing or
electricity—but do have people who harbor the AIDS virus—these artists have created scrolls than warn of the dangers of
HIV infection, and they are singing new, cautionary songs.
As Gere traveled throughout India, he heard the same story again and again: the artists he encountered who were using
their art to inform mostly rural, mostly illiterate audiences about the threat of AIDS all felt that they are working alone,
usually without official support and all too often in cultural isolation—unaware that other artists, elsewhere in India, were
working with a similar degree of passion and commitment towards the same end. These artists were avid for an opportunity
to meet with others who were similarly concerned about the spread of HIV, to share ideas, to benefit from constructive
criticism in a supportive environment, and to rejuvenate themselves for the work that lies ahead.
Gere provided them with that opportunity, by organizing a four-day workshop in Kolkata in early July under the banner
“make art/stop aids.” A rallying point for all those committed to a collaborative response to containing the HIV epidemic in
India, this workshop involved sixty participants, including performing and visual artists from seven different states in India.
The workshop entailed performances as well as candid, informal discussions among the artists, AIDS activists, journalists,
healthcare providers, representatives of governmental institutions and non-governmental organizations, and concerned
citizens. The Indian participants also had an opportunity to link their work to a larger global web of AIDS cultural activism,
through the active participation of international performer-activists from locations as diverse as the United States, South
Africa, Suriname, Bangladesh, Nepal, and the United Kingdom.
On July 6, 2004, Gere convened a day-long event at the India Habitat Centre in Delhi, as an extension and summation of
the workshop in Kolkata. The purpose of the event in Delhi was to extend the dialogue to key decision-makers in the public
sphere. Through the “make art/stop aids” workshop in Kolkata and the subsequent presentations in Delhi—both of which
were funded in part by the UCLA AIDS Institute—Gere sought to generate enthusiasm, at the national level, for an active
interventionist role in the prevention and treatment of AIDS in India. His good intentions have apparently been rewarded: A
dozen model projects are now awaiting funding, and one of these has moved ahead without any outside funding at all. The
Tambaram Sanitarium, the largest HIV care-provider in the country,has entered into a year-long contract with Nalamdana,
a Chennai-based street theater group, to ofer short AIDS prevention performances for the thousand citizens who line up
each morning for basic healthcare. To borrow an Indian turn of phrase, it’s an auspicious start.
Making It Personal
How we respond to the AIDS pandemic—and why—is individual,
ineluctable, often complex, and always, always important
UCLA AIDS INSTITUTE INSIDER
October 2004
For David Gere, an assistant professor in UCLA’s World Arts and Culture Department, it was the dark-haired girl… and
the hundreds like her that Gere encountered during his most recent trip to India. Like virtually all women in the developing
world, these girls have little or no say in when, how, and with whom they have sex. Abstinence, fidelity (to an equally
faithful partner), and consistent use of condoms are all effective ways of avoiding HIV infection, but they are not choices
that most women in the Third World have the luxury of being able to make. In Kenya, for example, fully one third of the
young women surveyed by researchers from the AIDS Institute reported that their first sexual experience involved
coercion, if not outright rape.
To help these women protect themselves against infection, they need a means of prevention that they control.
Microbicides, some 60 of which are currently being developed, would put protection in the hands of vulnerable women.
These agents are, in essence, sexual lubricants impregnated with drugs that kill HIV, and the hope is that when
microbicides are perfected, and made widely available, they will prevent, or at least substantially reduce, the likelihood that
HIV infection will be transmitted during intercourse.
The international effort to develop these agents is being spearheaded by two members of the AIDS Institute faculty, who
recently received a multimillion-dollar federal grant to coordinate a collaborative effort to create microbicides that
incorporate one or more antiretroviral drugs as their active ingredients.
Until we have an effective microbicide, or a preventive vaccine, our only hope of containing the HIV pandemic lies in
education—and to that end David Gere has mobilized artists from across the Indian subcontinent. Gere spent the first half
of this year in India, identifying an extraordinary assortment of traditional and contemporary artists—among them
puppeteers, scroll painters, and itinerant theatrical troupes—who had independently recognized that they could use art to
educate audiences about AIDS. Most of these individuals were unaware that other artists, elsewhere in India, were
engaged in similar efforts—until Gere brought them together for a national workshop, funded in part by the UCLA AIDS
Institute, that convened under the banner “make art/stop aids”.
You don’t have to be a member of the UCLA AIDS Institute to make a contribution to our all-out assault on HIV. Four
women in Chicago did that in May, by putting together a fund-raising event that netted more than $100,000 for the AIDS
Institute . And the 121 participants in this year’s Charity Treks ride did it in August, by biking from Montreal to Boston in
the name of AIDS vaccine research The stories are endlessly varied—and so are the responses. Our task at the AIDS
Institute is to channel those responses in the most effective direction, so that we make the most effective and productive
use of the tools given to us.
How we respond to the AIDS pandemic—and why—is individual,
ineluctable, often complex, and always, always important
UCLA AIDS INSTITUTE INSIDER
October 2004
For David Gere, an assistant professor in UCLA’s World Arts and Culture Department, it was the dark-haired girl… and
the hundreds like her that Gere encountered during his most recent trip to India. Like virtually all women in the developing
world, these girls have little or no say in when, how, and with whom they have sex. Abstinence, fidelity (to an equally
faithful partner), and consistent use of condoms are all effective ways of avoiding HIV infection, but they are not choices
that most women in the Third World have the luxury of being able to make. In Kenya, for example, fully one third of the
young women surveyed by researchers from the AIDS Institute reported that their first sexual experience involved
coercion, if not outright rape.
To help these women protect themselves against infection, they need a means of prevention that they control.
Microbicides, some 60 of which are currently being developed, would put protection in the hands of vulnerable women.
These agents are, in essence, sexual lubricants impregnated with drugs that kill HIV, and the hope is that when
microbicides are perfected, and made widely available, they will prevent, or at least substantially reduce, the likelihood that
HIV infection will be transmitted during intercourse.
The international effort to develop these agents is being spearheaded by two members of the AIDS Institute faculty, who
recently received a multimillion-dollar federal grant to coordinate a collaborative effort to create microbicides that
incorporate one or more antiretroviral drugs as their active ingredients.
Until we have an effective microbicide, or a preventive vaccine, our only hope of containing the HIV pandemic lies in
education—and to that end David Gere has mobilized artists from across the Indian subcontinent. Gere spent the first half
of this year in India, identifying an extraordinary assortment of traditional and contemporary artists—among them
puppeteers, scroll painters, and itinerant theatrical troupes—who had independently recognized that they could use art to
educate audiences about AIDS. Most of these individuals were unaware that other artists, elsewhere in India, were
engaged in similar efforts—until Gere brought them together for a national workshop, funded in part by the UCLA AIDS
Institute, that convened under the banner “make art/stop aids”.
You don’t have to be a member of the UCLA AIDS Institute to make a contribution to our all-out assault on HIV. Four
women in Chicago did that in May, by putting together a fund-raising event that netted more than $100,000 for the AIDS
Institute . And the 121 participants in this year’s Charity Treks ride did it in August, by biking from Montreal to Boston in
the name of AIDS vaccine research The stories are endlessly varied—and so are the responses. Our task at the AIDS
Institute is to channel those responses in the most effective direction, so that we make the most effective and productive
use of the tools given to us.
| Inspired by T-shirts worn by activists in South Africa, participants in David Gere’s Kolkata workshop created and donned their own “HIV-POSITIVE” shirts, in multiple languages, and took to the streets of Kolkata. Joining Gere (far right) and the other artist-participants were the U.S. Consul General, George Sibley, his wife, Lee, and a film celebrity, June Maliah. Streetside conversations offered participants an opportunity to share HIV prevention information, and some onlookers asked where they could be tested for HIV. Through pamphlets provided by the West Bengal AIDS Prevention and Control Society, they got that information, and the participants were able to experience the power of direct action. |
The Institute convenes a symposium to consider how best to
integrate HIV prevention and care in AIDS-ravaged Africa
ULA AIDS Institute Around the World
January, 2006
In sub-Saharan Africa, children under the age of five are dying of AIDS-related causes at
a rate of one child a minute, every hour of every day, every day of the year. In the worst-
hit regions of Africa, nearly 40% of adults are infected with HIV, and the epidemic shows
no signs of leveling of.
What can be done? What can be done to contain— and, ultimately, extinguish—the viral
firestorm that is sweeping across sub-Saharan Africa? In the past twenty years AIDS has
claimed tens of millions of African lives, left millions of orphans in its wake, depopulated
villages, destroyed the social infrastructure of communities, and destabilized economies
across the continent.
It is already too late for us to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe of unprecedented scope,
but it is not too late to make a difference. The ULA AIDS Institute is committed to making
a difference, through productive partnerships with governments and non-governmental agencies, and through imaginative
approaches to AIDS prevention, intervention, and care.
Sometimes the difference is a modest one—like Dr. Candice Cointon’s pilot program to provide hiv negative wet nurses for
the uninfected o½spring of hiv positive Kenyan women, a program that was described in the February 2004 issue of
Insider. And sometimes the difference is a major one—like Dr. Eric Bing’s program to enlist the entire Angolan army to
promote HIV education and prevention in that war-torn country.
“Integrating HIV Prevention and Care in Africa existing Challenges and Innovative Solutions,” a symposium convened by
the AIDS Institute, showcased partnerships and programs that differed considerably insole but shared the common goal of
arresting the insidious spread of HIV infection in Africa. The Institute recognizes that this goal can only be achieved through
the coordinated efforts of all those who have a stake in the campaign to contain the HIV pandemic. For this reason the
Institute made a particular point of inviting activists, socially-engaged artists, and representatives of corporations that do
business in Africa to participate in this day-long symposium. The speakers included, from left to right below, Jennifer F. Lot,
Senior Adviser on HIV/AIDS, Gender and Security at the Social Science Research Council; Dr. Perry Jansen, the director of
Partners in Hope, one of the only dedicated HIV clinics in Malawi; and Professor David Ger, whose MAKE ART/STOP AIDS
project encourages indigenous artists to incorporate AIDS education and prevention messages into their art forms. One of
those artists, the Ghanaian drummer Eddi Soaks (opposite), led the delegates into the symposium.
“Integrating HIV Prevention and Care in Africa” began with a luncheon reception on the second-floor terrace of Fowler
Library (overleaf, top)—and ended there, some eight AIDS in Africa: Socially engaged artists can play a crucial part in
disseminating information about how HIV is transmitted, and in counteracting the stigma associated with HIV infection—but
only if they are given an opportunity to turn their talents to those purposes. Thanks to Dr. David Ger, activist artists were
full partners in “Integrating HIV Prevention and Care in Africa.” Carol Brown, the curator of the Durban Art Gallery, and her
colleague Dr. Robert Member offered numerous examples of the ways in which the visual arts have been used to engage
and educate South Africans about AIDS—examples that any museum anywhere could use as templates for socially
responsible programs of its own. Peter Ca repenter and his dance troupe performed excerpts from “Bareback into the
Sunset,” a dance-drama that traces the changing demographics of the epidemic. The program ended with a second
keynote, this one delivered by Laurie Garrett , a senior fellow for global health at the Committee on Foreign Relations,
whose masterly summation of what AIDS has done to Africa included the chilling news that in Uganda orphanages are now
fostering two year- olds to ten-year-olds… because there are no adults left to look after children of any age.
integrate HIV prevention and care in AIDS-ravaged Africa
ULA AIDS Institute Around the World
January, 2006
In sub-Saharan Africa, children under the age of five are dying of AIDS-related causes at
a rate of one child a minute, every hour of every day, every day of the year. In the worst-
hit regions of Africa, nearly 40% of adults are infected with HIV, and the epidemic shows
no signs of leveling of.
What can be done? What can be done to contain— and, ultimately, extinguish—the viral
firestorm that is sweeping across sub-Saharan Africa? In the past twenty years AIDS has
claimed tens of millions of African lives, left millions of orphans in its wake, depopulated
villages, destroyed the social infrastructure of communities, and destabilized economies
across the continent.
It is already too late for us to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe of unprecedented scope,
but it is not too late to make a difference. The ULA AIDS Institute is committed to making
a difference, through productive partnerships with governments and non-governmental agencies, and through imaginative
approaches to AIDS prevention, intervention, and care.
Sometimes the difference is a modest one—like Dr. Candice Cointon’s pilot program to provide hiv negative wet nurses for
the uninfected o½spring of hiv positive Kenyan women, a program that was described in the February 2004 issue of
Insider. And sometimes the difference is a major one—like Dr. Eric Bing’s program to enlist the entire Angolan army to
promote HIV education and prevention in that war-torn country.
“Integrating HIV Prevention and Care in Africa existing Challenges and Innovative Solutions,” a symposium convened by
the AIDS Institute, showcased partnerships and programs that differed considerably insole but shared the common goal of
arresting the insidious spread of HIV infection in Africa. The Institute recognizes that this goal can only be achieved through
the coordinated efforts of all those who have a stake in the campaign to contain the HIV pandemic. For this reason the
Institute made a particular point of inviting activists, socially-engaged artists, and representatives of corporations that do
business in Africa to participate in this day-long symposium. The speakers included, from left to right below, Jennifer F. Lot,
Senior Adviser on HIV/AIDS, Gender and Security at the Social Science Research Council; Dr. Perry Jansen, the director of
Partners in Hope, one of the only dedicated HIV clinics in Malawi; and Professor David Ger, whose MAKE ART/STOP AIDS
project encourages indigenous artists to incorporate AIDS education and prevention messages into their art forms. One of
those artists, the Ghanaian drummer Eddi Soaks (opposite), led the delegates into the symposium.
“Integrating HIV Prevention and Care in Africa” began with a luncheon reception on the second-floor terrace of Fowler
Library (overleaf, top)—and ended there, some eight AIDS in Africa: Socially engaged artists can play a crucial part in
disseminating information about how HIV is transmitted, and in counteracting the stigma associated with HIV infection—but
only if they are given an opportunity to turn their talents to those purposes. Thanks to Dr. David Ger, activist artists were
full partners in “Integrating HIV Prevention and Care in Africa.” Carol Brown, the curator of the Durban Art Gallery, and her
colleague Dr. Robert Member offered numerous examples of the ways in which the visual arts have been used to engage
and educate South Africans about AIDS—examples that any museum anywhere could use as templates for socially
responsible programs of its own. Peter Ca repenter and his dance troupe performed excerpts from “Bareback into the
Sunset,” a dance-drama that traces the changing demographics of the epidemic. The program ended with a second
keynote, this one delivered by Laurie Garrett , a senior fellow for global health at the Committee on Foreign Relations,
whose masterly summation of what AIDS has done to Africa included the chilling news that in Uganda orphanages are now
fostering two year- olds to ten-year-olds… because there are no adults left to look after children of any age.
Awards Committee Report
The Congress on Research in Dance announced the recipients of its 2006 awards at its November conference in Tempe,
Arizona. The prestigious award for Outstanding Leadership in Dance Research was given to Allegra Fuller Snyder and
Elsie Ivancich Dunin in recognition of their generative role in establishing the field of Dance Ethnology in the Department of
Dance at the University of California, Los Angeles. In 1967, Dunin and Snyder formulated and led the first graduate
program in this country to focus on the cultural study of dance; previously, dance in the U.S. was studied almost exclusively
from the perspective of Western history and aesthetics. The UCLA Dance Department has since transformed and grown
into a PhD-granting institute in World Arts and Cultures; its genesis began with the vision of Elsie Dunin and Allegra Snyder.
Two awards and one honorable mention were given in the category of Outstanding Publication. Awards went to David Gere
for How to Make Dances in an Epidemic: Tracking Choreography in the Age of AIDS (Madison: University of Wisconsin
Press, 2004) and to Anne Décoret-Ahiha for Les Danses exotiques en France: 1880-1940 (Pantin: Centre national de la
danse, 2004). Susan Manning won honorable mention for Modern Dance, Negro Dance: Race in Motion (Minneapolis,
London: University of Minnesota Press, 2004).
How to Make Dances in an Epidemic “resurrects” gay dance activism during the early and worst years of the AIDS epidemic
in the United States. Gere brings to life and analyzes the protests, funerals, stage performances and large memorials of
the 1980s and 90s. Exhaustively researched and evocatively described, the book reveals “AIDS dance” to embody a
combination of abjection, eros and mourning. It ultimately celebrates eros – equivalent to life – at its moment of greatest
amplification, that is, in its challenge to death.
Les Danses exotiques en France: 1880-1940 marks the first time CORD has honored a non-English language book. This
meticulously researched and beautifully presented volume brings to light the contributions to modern dance made by the
many so-called “exotic” Asian and African dancers performing and teaching in Europe from 1880 to 1940, and
demonstrating how the term exotic was “inscribed in the political, cultural, and epistemological context of the period.” Using
extensive historical research, Décoret-Ahiha captures the spirit of this fertile period.
Honorable mention went to Susan Manning for Modern Dance, Negro Dance: Race in Motion (Minneapolis, London:
University of Minnesota Press, 2004). While both black concert dance and white modern dance have recently seen
revisionist histories, Manning’s contribution is to trace the changing relations between differently positioned dancers,
audiences, and critics set against the backdrop of changing social relations, from the Harlem Renaissance through the
Civil Rights movement. Noting differences and alliances between leftist critics, Harlem critics, arts dance critics and gay
critics, Manning analyzes “crossviewings,” what happens when individuals look, often with pre-set eyes, at works outside
their own multiple social identities.
The Congress on Research in Dance announced the recipients of its 2006 awards at its November conference in Tempe,
Arizona. The prestigious award for Outstanding Leadership in Dance Research was given to Allegra Fuller Snyder and
Elsie Ivancich Dunin in recognition of their generative role in establishing the field of Dance Ethnology in the Department of
Dance at the University of California, Los Angeles. In 1967, Dunin and Snyder formulated and led the first graduate
program in this country to focus on the cultural study of dance; previously, dance in the U.S. was studied almost exclusively
from the perspective of Western history and aesthetics. The UCLA Dance Department has since transformed and grown
into a PhD-granting institute in World Arts and Cultures; its genesis began with the vision of Elsie Dunin and Allegra Snyder.
Two awards and one honorable mention were given in the category of Outstanding Publication. Awards went to David Gere
for How to Make Dances in an Epidemic: Tracking Choreography in the Age of AIDS (Madison: University of Wisconsin
Press, 2004) and to Anne Décoret-Ahiha for Les Danses exotiques en France: 1880-1940 (Pantin: Centre national de la
danse, 2004). Susan Manning won honorable mention for Modern Dance, Negro Dance: Race in Motion (Minneapolis,
London: University of Minnesota Press, 2004).
How to Make Dances in an Epidemic “resurrects” gay dance activism during the early and worst years of the AIDS epidemic
in the United States. Gere brings to life and analyzes the protests, funerals, stage performances and large memorials of
the 1980s and 90s. Exhaustively researched and evocatively described, the book reveals “AIDS dance” to embody a
combination of abjection, eros and mourning. It ultimately celebrates eros – equivalent to life – at its moment of greatest
amplification, that is, in its challenge to death.
Les Danses exotiques en France: 1880-1940 marks the first time CORD has honored a non-English language book. This
meticulously researched and beautifully presented volume brings to light the contributions to modern dance made by the
many so-called “exotic” Asian and African dancers performing and teaching in Europe from 1880 to 1940, and
demonstrating how the term exotic was “inscribed in the political, cultural, and epistemological context of the period.” Using
extensive historical research, Décoret-Ahiha captures the spirit of this fertile period.
Honorable mention went to Susan Manning for Modern Dance, Negro Dance: Race in Motion (Minneapolis, London:
University of Minnesota Press, 2004). While both black concert dance and white modern dance have recently seen
revisionist histories, Manning’s contribution is to trace the changing relations between differently positioned dancers,
audiences, and critics set against the backdrop of changing social relations, from the Harlem Renaissance through the
Civil Rights movement. Noting differences and alliances between leftist critics, Harlem critics, arts dance critics and gay
critics, Manning analyzes “crossviewings,” what happens when individuals look, often with pre-set eyes, at works outside
their own multiple social identities.
| Anne Décoret-Ahiha and David Gere, recipients of the 2007 CORD Award for Outstanding Publication |
REMARKS By CONSUL GENERAL HENRY V. JARDINE
At MAKE ART/STOP AIDS PROGRAM AMERICAN CENTER, KOLKATA
May 14, 2007
David Gere, Co-Chair, Department of World Cultures, University of California at Los Angeles, and head of the MAKE
ART/STOP AIDS international initiative.
Participants from outstation.
All other participants
Welcome to the American Center. I am very pleased to be here today to see the results of something that was
started in this very room, several years ago. In 2000, at the American Center's "HIV/AIDS Educational Materials
Fair" held in the room you are sitting in, Rani Chitrakar, who is here today, unfurled the first HIV/AIDS awareness
"patachitra." The project has gone a long way since then. The concept has become an initiative, and it has moved
from the confines of West Bengal to nations around the world. I wish the project every success, and hope that the
discussions today will help it grow both qualitatively and quantitatively so that its aim of building wider and deeper
awareness of HIV/AIDS is achieved in record time.
I invite you all to take seriously the critical need to turn the tide against HIV/AIDS. President Bush has made fighting
the international HIV/AIDS pandemic a U.S. priority. The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS is the largest
commitment ever by a single nation toward an international health initiative: a 5-year, $15 billion, multifaceted
approach to combating the disease in more than 120 countries around the world. When referring to the misery
caused by HIV/AIDS President Bush says: "There are only two possible responses to suffering on this scale. We
can turn our eyes away in resignation and despair, or we can take decisive, historic action to turn the tide against
the disease..."
The American Center, Kolkata has worked, and will continue to work to help build HIV/AIDS awareness in several
ways. Over the years, we have programmed experts like Arvind Singhal, the well-known author of books such as "
Combating AIDS: Communication Strategies in Action " that have become must-read books for those who work to
build HIV/AIDS awareness. The American Center worked with Professor Singhal in Nagaland, Orissa and West
Bengal, where he directed the attention of corporations to their social responsibility to help in the fight against
HIV/AIDS. Professor Singhal made politicians understand the strong role they can play, and helped broaden the
vision of religious leaders to include discussions of HIV/AIDS among those they lead. Last year, we had Shalini
Eddens from the NGO WORLD visit Bihar to speak on the special needs of women who are HIV positive or have
AIDS. Also last year, the American Center brought Beverly Watts Davis from the U.S. Department of Substance
Abuse and Mental Health, who conducted a workshop for student leaders from several states on the role they can
play to spread awareness among youth, and reduce the stigma of AIDS and HIV. We have screened the award
winning film "A Closer Walk" in several states in our Consular District, the documentary has raising awareness
among audiences of the danger posed of ignoring HIV/AIDS.
The U.S. Government has also given grants to NGOs and others to develop materials for HIV/AIDS awareness
building. Among the first was the grant given to help Rani Chitrakar acquire correct information about HIV/AIDS, and
for her, and her fellow artists to develop scrolls on the subject. With the Gere Foundation, we facilitated the holding
of intensive workshops for patachitra artists to hone their knowledge about HIV/AIDS. These were conducted by
experts from the Bhoruka Public Welfare Trust. The NGO Sonata Foundation has received a grant from us to train
"Baul" singers of Santiniketan to include HIV/AIDS songs in their repertoires. The Eastern Railways stepped in to
facilitate the program by providing free passage to these singers so that they can hold the attention of daily
commuters. The "Baul" singers have also performed at areas of large gatherings such as the annual Pous Mela at
Santiniketan, outside Durga Puja Pandals, and at transport depots.
In 2000, we funded a workshop in Kohima, Nagaland that brought together NGO representatives from all the
northeastern states to develop a master plan for the care and support of those with HIV/AIDS. Subsequently, we
held a program in Jorhat that focused on the role of Federal and State governments in the fight against HIV/AIDS. In
2004, we facilitated the first MAKE ART/STOP AIDS workshop held in Kolkata, at which representatives from several
states in India and around 10 other countries gathered to discuss the use of art forms to build awareness about
HIV/AIDS. In 2006, we provided a grant to an NGO in Imphal to study the condition of children who are victims or
orphans of HIV/AIDS. The findings were subsequently shared with medical practitioners and sociologists across the
country.
Workplace policies to protect employees are another of our major areas of concern. The U.S. Embassy has a
workplace policy that protects those who might be HIV + or have AIDS. We have shared this policy with several
organizations, such as chambers of commerce like Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Indian Chamber,
and with large units such as MECON and the Central Mine Planning and Design Institute in Ranchi. In addition, we
have worked with trade unions to help them expand their work to include HIV/AIDS awareness building.
Youth audiences are another special target. We have involved the National Cadet Corp (NCC), college students,
and youth leaders in programs. Another group of people whom we have specially worked with are the religious
leaders for whom we have held programs to discuss their role in spreading awareness about HIV/AIDS. We have
also had Hollywood producers of soaps such as "The Bold and The Beautiful" speak via DVC with Tollywood
scriptwriters and producers to share with them their experience of how to incorporate HIV/AIDS themes in their film
and soap story-lines.
These are just a few examples of the work we have done in the past. Upcoming programs include workshops to be
held in July 2007, to mark the completion of the U.S. United Negro College Special Fund provided to Women's
Studies Research Center, Calcutta University for a study of children who are vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. The workshops
will include discussions on "HIV/AIDS Policy Formulation for Educational Institutions" with delegates from the U.S. and
several African countries. If there are other programs you suggest for the future, do let us know. We will try our
best to work with those that are most feasible. I would like you to know that from Kolkata, our operations cover 12
states and one Union Territory, so we are not limited to doing programs in Kolkata alone.
To reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS, not a moment can be lost, nor any effort spared. I would ask that each one of you
use the talents you have available to put together programs that catch the eye, appeal to the ear, and which convey
the message effectively.
At MAKE ART/STOP AIDS PROGRAM AMERICAN CENTER, KOLKATA
May 14, 2007
David Gere, Co-Chair, Department of World Cultures, University of California at Los Angeles, and head of the MAKE
ART/STOP AIDS international initiative.
Participants from outstation.
All other participants
Welcome to the American Center. I am very pleased to be here today to see the results of something that was
started in this very room, several years ago. In 2000, at the American Center's "HIV/AIDS Educational Materials
Fair" held in the room you are sitting in, Rani Chitrakar, who is here today, unfurled the first HIV/AIDS awareness
"patachitra." The project has gone a long way since then. The concept has become an initiative, and it has moved
from the confines of West Bengal to nations around the world. I wish the project every success, and hope that the
discussions today will help it grow both qualitatively and quantitatively so that its aim of building wider and deeper
awareness of HIV/AIDS is achieved in record time.
I invite you all to take seriously the critical need to turn the tide against HIV/AIDS. President Bush has made fighting
the international HIV/AIDS pandemic a U.S. priority. The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS is the largest
commitment ever by a single nation toward an international health initiative: a 5-year, $15 billion, multifaceted
approach to combating the disease in more than 120 countries around the world. When referring to the misery
caused by HIV/AIDS President Bush says: "There are only two possible responses to suffering on this scale. We
can turn our eyes away in resignation and despair, or we can take decisive, historic action to turn the tide against
the disease..."
The American Center, Kolkata has worked, and will continue to work to help build HIV/AIDS awareness in several
ways. Over the years, we have programmed experts like Arvind Singhal, the well-known author of books such as "
Combating AIDS: Communication Strategies in Action " that have become must-read books for those who work to
build HIV/AIDS awareness. The American Center worked with Professor Singhal in Nagaland, Orissa and West
Bengal, where he directed the attention of corporations to their social responsibility to help in the fight against
HIV/AIDS. Professor Singhal made politicians understand the strong role they can play, and helped broaden the
vision of religious leaders to include discussions of HIV/AIDS among those they lead. Last year, we had Shalini
Eddens from the NGO WORLD visit Bihar to speak on the special needs of women who are HIV positive or have
AIDS. Also last year, the American Center brought Beverly Watts Davis from the U.S. Department of Substance
Abuse and Mental Health, who conducted a workshop for student leaders from several states on the role they can
play to spread awareness among youth, and reduce the stigma of AIDS and HIV. We have screened the award
winning film "A Closer Walk" in several states in our Consular District, the documentary has raising awareness
among audiences of the danger posed of ignoring HIV/AIDS.
The U.S. Government has also given grants to NGOs and others to develop materials for HIV/AIDS awareness
building. Among the first was the grant given to help Rani Chitrakar acquire correct information about HIV/AIDS, and
for her, and her fellow artists to develop scrolls on the subject. With the Gere Foundation, we facilitated the holding
of intensive workshops for patachitra artists to hone their knowledge about HIV/AIDS. These were conducted by
experts from the Bhoruka Public Welfare Trust. The NGO Sonata Foundation has received a grant from us to train
"Baul" singers of Santiniketan to include HIV/AIDS songs in their repertoires. The Eastern Railways stepped in to
facilitate the program by providing free passage to these singers so that they can hold the attention of daily
commuters. The "Baul" singers have also performed at areas of large gatherings such as the annual Pous Mela at
Santiniketan, outside Durga Puja Pandals, and at transport depots.
In 2000, we funded a workshop in Kohima, Nagaland that brought together NGO representatives from all the
northeastern states to develop a master plan for the care and support of those with HIV/AIDS. Subsequently, we
held a program in Jorhat that focused on the role of Federal and State governments in the fight against HIV/AIDS. In
2004, we facilitated the first MAKE ART/STOP AIDS workshop held in Kolkata, at which representatives from several
states in India and around 10 other countries gathered to discuss the use of art forms to build awareness about
HIV/AIDS. In 2006, we provided a grant to an NGO in Imphal to study the condition of children who are victims or
orphans of HIV/AIDS. The findings were subsequently shared with medical practitioners and sociologists across the
country.
Workplace policies to protect employees are another of our major areas of concern. The U.S. Embassy has a
workplace policy that protects those who might be HIV + or have AIDS. We have shared this policy with several
organizations, such as chambers of commerce like Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Indian Chamber,
and with large units such as MECON and the Central Mine Planning and Design Institute in Ranchi. In addition, we
have worked with trade unions to help them expand their work to include HIV/AIDS awareness building.
Youth audiences are another special target. We have involved the National Cadet Corp (NCC), college students,
and youth leaders in programs. Another group of people whom we have specially worked with are the religious
leaders for whom we have held programs to discuss their role in spreading awareness about HIV/AIDS. We have
also had Hollywood producers of soaps such as "The Bold and The Beautiful" speak via DVC with Tollywood
scriptwriters and producers to share with them their experience of how to incorporate HIV/AIDS themes in their film
and soap story-lines.
These are just a few examples of the work we have done in the past. Upcoming programs include workshops to be
held in July 2007, to mark the completion of the U.S. United Negro College Special Fund provided to Women's
Studies Research Center, Calcutta University for a study of children who are vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. The workshops
will include discussions on "HIV/AIDS Policy Formulation for Educational Institutions" with delegates from the U.S. and
several African countries. If there are other programs you suggest for the future, do let us know. We will try our
best to work with those that are most feasible. I would like you to know that from Kolkata, our operations cover 12
states and one Union Territory, so we are not limited to doing programs in Kolkata alone.
To reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS, not a moment can be lost, nor any effort spared. I would ask that each one of you
use the talents you have available to put together programs that catch the eye, appeal to the ear, and which convey
the message effectively.
CHENNAI: The arts could help reduce stigma and fear that
prevent one from seeking treatment for HIV and AIDS.
The arts are underutilised in the realm of public health and medicine,
director of ‘Make Art Stop Aids’ David Gere said here on Tuesday.
Organised by the U.S. Consulate, the programme was aimed at
exploring the possible ways in which the arts could help address
the issue of HIV and AIDS. Participating students, in their
responses, said arts could help clarify myths and truths, create
awareness, and educate people.
Mr. Gere, an activist who has been working in the area of HIV and
AIDS and brother of Hollywood actor Richard Gere, has been
networking with artists across India, who have attempted to use
art as a tool to address the issue.
From filmmakers and puppeteers to dancers and photographers, artists
using creative media to convey messages related to HIV and AIDS have
been working together to create an awareness of the issue.
As part of the ‘Make Art Stop Aids’ initiative, he is working on a comprehensive plan for arts intervention in addressing
AIDS in five countries including India, he said.
Ragini Gupta, U.S. Consul for Cultural Affairs, who welcomed the speakers, said the programme fell in line with the
initiative of the U.S. to combat HIV and AIDS. Actors Rohini and Karthi Sivakumar were among the speakers for the
evening.
Mr. Karthi Sivakumar said arts such as films had the ability to change the mindset of the viewer. “The viewer may have
come in with a particular frame of mind with certain expectations. But, he or she may get to watch and experience
something totally different altogether,” he said. “Art will definitely make an impact,” he added.
Ms. Rohini, who has made short films on HIV and AIDS, suggested that students work on social themes for college projects.
While society reserved weddings for those who have completed education and settled down comfortably in good jobs, it
failed to address issues of adolescents who are biologically ready to reproduce right from the age of 12 or 13. Considering
the vulnerability of those in the 15 to 28 age group, it was important to spread awareness among them, she added.
A play by the Nalamdana Foundation followed.
College students and members of red ribbon clubs participated.
CHENNAI: The arts could help reduce stigma and fear that prevent one from seeking treatment for HIV and AIDS. The arts
are underutilised in the realm of public health and medicine, director of ‘Make Art Stop Aids’ David Gere said here on
Tuesday.
Organised by the U.S. Consulate, the programme was aimed at exploring the possible ways in which the arts could help
address the issue of HIV and AIDS. Participating students, in their responses, said arts could help clarify myths and truths,
create awareness, and educate people.
Mr. Gere, an activist who has been working in the area of HIV and AIDS and brother of Hollywood actor Richard Gere, has
been networking with artists across India, who have attempted to use art as a tool to address the issue.
From filmmakers and puppeteers to dancers and photographers, artists using creative media to convey messages related
to HIV and AIDS have been working together to create an awareness of the issue.
As part of the ‘Make Art Stop Aids’ initiative, he is working on a comprehensive plan for arts intervention in addressing
AIDS in five countries including India, he said.
Ragini Gupta, U.S. Consul for Cultural Affairs, who welcomed the speakers, said the programme fell in line with the
initiative of the U.S. to combat HIV and AIDS. Actors Rohini and Karthi Sivakumar were among the speakers for the
evening.
Mr. Karthi Sivakumar said arts such as films had the ability to change the mindset of the viewer. “The viewer may have
come in with a particular frame of mind with certain expectations. But, he or she may get to watch and experience
something totally different altogether,” he said. “Art will definitely make an impact,” he added.
Ms. Rohini, who has made short films on HIV and AIDS, suggested that students work on social themes for college projects.
While society reserved weddings for those who have completed education and settled down comfortably in good jobs, it
failed to address issues of adolescents who are biologically ready to reproduce right from the age of 12 or 13. Considering
the vulnerability of those in the 15 to 28 age group, it was important to spread awareness among them, she added.
A play by the Nalamdana Foundation followed.
College students and members of red ribbon clubs participated.
prevent one from seeking treatment for HIV and AIDS.
The arts are underutilised in the realm of public health and medicine,
director of ‘Make Art Stop Aids’ David Gere said here on Tuesday.
Organised by the U.S. Consulate, the programme was aimed at
exploring the possible ways in which the arts could help address
the issue of HIV and AIDS. Participating students, in their
responses, said arts could help clarify myths and truths, create
awareness, and educate people.
Mr. Gere, an activist who has been working in the area of HIV and
AIDS and brother of Hollywood actor Richard Gere, has been
networking with artists across India, who have attempted to use
art as a tool to address the issue.
From filmmakers and puppeteers to dancers and photographers, artists
using creative media to convey messages related to HIV and AIDS have
been working together to create an awareness of the issue.
As part of the ‘Make Art Stop Aids’ initiative, he is working on a comprehensive plan for arts intervention in addressing
AIDS in five countries including India, he said.
Ragini Gupta, U.S. Consul for Cultural Affairs, who welcomed the speakers, said the programme fell in line with the
initiative of the U.S. to combat HIV and AIDS. Actors Rohini and Karthi Sivakumar were among the speakers for the
evening.
Mr. Karthi Sivakumar said arts such as films had the ability to change the mindset of the viewer. “The viewer may have
come in with a particular frame of mind with certain expectations. But, he or she may get to watch and experience
something totally different altogether,” he said. “Art will definitely make an impact,” he added.
Ms. Rohini, who has made short films on HIV and AIDS, suggested that students work on social themes for college projects.
While society reserved weddings for those who have completed education and settled down comfortably in good jobs, it
failed to address issues of adolescents who are biologically ready to reproduce right from the age of 12 or 13. Considering
the vulnerability of those in the 15 to 28 age group, it was important to spread awareness among them, she added.
A play by the Nalamdana Foundation followed.
College students and members of red ribbon clubs participated.
CHENNAI: The arts could help reduce stigma and fear that prevent one from seeking treatment for HIV and AIDS. The arts
are underutilised in the realm of public health and medicine, director of ‘Make Art Stop Aids’ David Gere said here on
Tuesday.
Organised by the U.S. Consulate, the programme was aimed at exploring the possible ways in which the arts could help
address the issue of HIV and AIDS. Participating students, in their responses, said arts could help clarify myths and truths,
create awareness, and educate people.
Mr. Gere, an activist who has been working in the area of HIV and AIDS and brother of Hollywood actor Richard Gere, has
been networking with artists across India, who have attempted to use art as a tool to address the issue.
From filmmakers and puppeteers to dancers and photographers, artists using creative media to convey messages related
to HIV and AIDS have been working together to create an awareness of the issue.
As part of the ‘Make Art Stop Aids’ initiative, he is working on a comprehensive plan for arts intervention in addressing
AIDS in five countries including India, he said.
Ragini Gupta, U.S. Consul for Cultural Affairs, who welcomed the speakers, said the programme fell in line with the
initiative of the U.S. to combat HIV and AIDS. Actors Rohini and Karthi Sivakumar were among the speakers for the
evening.
Mr. Karthi Sivakumar said arts such as films had the ability to change the mindset of the viewer. “The viewer may have
come in with a particular frame of mind with certain expectations. But, he or she may get to watch and experience
something totally different altogether,” he said. “Art will definitely make an impact,” he added.
Ms. Rohini, who has made short films on HIV and AIDS, suggested that students work on social themes for college projects.
While society reserved weddings for those who have completed education and settled down comfortably in good jobs, it
failed to address issues of adolescents who are biologically ready to reproduce right from the age of 12 or 13. Considering
the vulnerability of those in the 15 to 28 age group, it was important to spread awareness among them, she added.
A play by the Nalamdana Foundation followed.
College students and members of red ribbon clubs participated.
| ARTISTES’ TALK: (From left) Director of ‘Make Art Stop Aids’ David Gere with actors Rohini and Karthi Sivakumar at a programme organised by the U.S. Consulate in Chennai on Tuesday. |
Art can be used to create awareness'
An international network of artistes strives to mobilise cultural action to eradicate AIDS
Chennai
The role of art in creat ing awareness about diseases is being under utilised in the realm of public health, said David
Gere, director, ‘Make Art/Stop AIDS', an international network of artistes striving to mobilise cultural action in an effort to
eradicate the AIDS epidemic.
Delivering a lecture on the ‘Power of Arts to Save Lives' here on Tuesday, he said art had a penetrating power that
could be used to create awareness about epidemics.
"Art can be used to create awareness about diseases, remove stigma and myths associated with a particular disease.
Unfortunately it has been under utilised," said Gere.
Shifting his focus to Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART), he said that only a small percentage of those people living with HIV
had received the therapy. According to him, many people lacked access to the ARTs and some of the drugs used for
the treatment of HIV reached India long after they were launched in the United States of America (USA).
On the network of artistes, Gere said that it had been founded in India in 2004. The members of ‘Make Art/Stop AIDS'
had now embarked on a plan for AIDS/arts intervention in five countries, namely, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, USA and
India.
"We will be jaunting off on a travelling exhibition in February, 2008. Our network will travel to Mexico, South Africa, Brazil
to hold programmes there. We will also be holding programmes in New Delhi,'' he added.
Addressing the students, film personality Karthi said that cinema could be used as a tool to spread awareness as the
audience tended to become engrossed in the story and empathise with the character.
Actor Rohini said that students of Visual Communication should use their time to make documentaries and movies that
could have an impact on the minds of the people. She said that the younger generation should also learn to channelize
their sexual energy for useful purposes.
Quoting statistics, Rohini said that 50 percent of the newly HIV affected persons were between the age group of 15 and
28 years. Hence it was vital to concentrate on this particular age group.
The occasion also saw the rendering of a few songs and the enactment of a street play by the theatre group,
‘Nalamdana'. The theme of the play focussed on the concept of HIV.
An international network of artistes strives to mobilise cultural action to eradicate AIDS
Chennai
The role of art in creat ing awareness about diseases is being under utilised in the realm of public health, said David
Gere, director, ‘Make Art/Stop AIDS', an international network of artistes striving to mobilise cultural action in an effort to
eradicate the AIDS epidemic.
Delivering a lecture on the ‘Power of Arts to Save Lives' here on Tuesday, he said art had a penetrating power that
could be used to create awareness about epidemics.
"Art can be used to create awareness about diseases, remove stigma and myths associated with a particular disease.
Unfortunately it has been under utilised," said Gere.
Shifting his focus to Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART), he said that only a small percentage of those people living with HIV
had received the therapy. According to him, many people lacked access to the ARTs and some of the drugs used for
the treatment of HIV reached India long after they were launched in the United States of America (USA).
On the network of artistes, Gere said that it had been founded in India in 2004. The members of ‘Make Art/Stop AIDS'
had now embarked on a plan for AIDS/arts intervention in five countries, namely, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, USA and
India.
"We will be jaunting off on a travelling exhibition in February, 2008. Our network will travel to Mexico, South Africa, Brazil
to hold programmes there. We will also be holding programmes in New Delhi,'' he added.
Addressing the students, film personality Karthi said that cinema could be used as a tool to spread awareness as the
audience tended to become engrossed in the story and empathise with the character.
Actor Rohini said that students of Visual Communication should use their time to make documentaries and movies that
could have an impact on the minds of the people. She said that the younger generation should also learn to channelize
their sexual energy for useful purposes.
Quoting statistics, Rohini said that 50 percent of the newly HIV affected persons were between the age group of 15 and
28 years. Hence it was vital to concentrate on this particular age group.
The occasion also saw the rendering of a few songs and the enactment of a street play by the theatre group,
‘Nalamdana'. The theme of the play focussed on the concept of HIV.
