Visual AIDS Looks to Black Narratives Within the Epidemic for World AIDS Day

For nearly 30 years Visual AIDS has utilized art to fight AIDS by keeping the disease present in conversations and reminding everyone that, until there is a cure, AIDS isn't going anywhere.

This year, for the organization's 28th annual "Day With(out) Art" on World AIDS Day 2017, seven artists have crafted inventive short videos to be a part of ALTERNATE ENDINGS, RADICAL BEGINNINGS. Curated by Erin Christovale and Vivian Crocket for Visual AIDS, the program "prioritizes Black narratives within the ongoing AIDS epidemic." Featured artists include Mykki Blanco, Cheryl Dunye & Ellen Spiro, Reina Gossett, Thomas Allen Harris, Kia LaBeija, Tiona Nekkia McClodden, and Brontez Purnell.

Four marquee screenings of the collaborative program are planned:

The Whitney Museum of American Art, December 1, 6:30PM, followed by a post-screening discussion featuring Reina Gossett, Tiona Nekkia McClodden and Brontez Purnell in conversation with Day With(out) Art curators Erin Christovale and Vivian Crockett. (RSVP)

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, December 4, 6:30PM, in collaboration with The Studio Museum in Harlem, followed by a post-screening discussion featuring Cheryl Dunye, Ellen Spiro and Thomas Allen Harris in conversation with Day With(out) Art curators Erin Christovale and Vivian Crockett. (RSVP) (facebook)

Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, December 5, 6:00PM, followed by a post-screening discussion featuring Rae Lewis-Thornton, Charles Long and Tiona Nekkia McClodden in conversation with Visual AIDS Programs Director Alex Fialho. (link) (facebook)

The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, December 7, 7:00PM, in collaboration with ONE Archives at the USC Libraries and the ONE Archives Foundation, followed by a performance by Kia LaBeija and a discussion featuring Reina Gossett and Kia LaBeija in conversation with Day With(out) Art curators Erin Christovale and Vivian Crockett. (link) (facebook)

Watch the trailer, below, and see the work Visual AIDS does year-round at their website, www.visualaids.org.