Each year since 1988, December 1st has been recognized as World AIDS Day. It is a day to come together as a community in support of those living with HIV, to commemorate those we’ve lost to the illness, and to support the fight against the spread.
Today is also Day With(out) Art, established by arts workers in 1989 as a call for “mourning and action in response to the AIDS crisis.”
Below are a few resources about World AIDS Day and Day With(out) Art. Learn, donate, watch, and help honor those present and past who are part of the legacy of HIV/AIDS advocacy, organizing, education, art, and protest.
*Language and images below are from the sources linked.
DAY WITH(OUT) ART: Being & Belonging Organized by Visual Aids
Thursday, December 1, 2022
Visual AIDS announces Being & Belonging, a program of seven short videos highlighting under-told stories of HIV and AIDS from the perspective of artists living with HIV across the world. Being & Belonging will premiere at over 100 museums and arts organizations on December 1, 2022, for Day With(out) Art / World AIDS Day.
The program features newly commissioned work by Camila Arce (Argentina), Davina “Dee” Conner and Karin Hayes (USA), Jaewon Kim (South Korea), Clifford Prince King (USA), Santiago Lemus and Camilo Acosta Huntertexas (Colombia), Mikiki (Canada), and Jhoel Zempoalteca and La Jerry (México).
Being & Belonging will screen in over 100 museums, universities, and arts organizations worldwide beginning December 1, 2022, Day With(out) Art / World AIDS Day. The videos will also be available to stream online free of charge at visualaids.org/dwa2022.
“Dance for Myself in Front of You: Mariana Valencia’s Album”
By Roy Pérez
San Diego-based writer and professor Roy Pérez has authored an essay for AH Journal about dance artist Mariana Valencia's performance, ALBUM, which was presented at PICA's TBA Festival in 2018. In "Dance for Myself in Front of You: Mariana Valencia’s Album", Pérez frames Valencia's performance and accompanying publication in relation to a multitude of interpretations and experiences of queerness, including non-linear time, storytelling and narrative, ancestral histories, movement scores, language and poetics, and the ongoing and compounded crises of HIV/AIDS. Click the button below to read this essay online.
---> “Dance for Myself in Front of You: Mariana Valencia’s Album”
Get Tested for Free with Cascade Aids Project (CAP)
CAP’s testing is aimed at gay/bisexual/queer men and trans folks, but no one is turned away for services. All testing is confidential, free of charge, and you receive your result within 20 minutes. Due to the urgency in curbing the spread of COVID-19, Testing at Pivot is currently available during limited hours by appointment only. Call CAP at (971) 279-7033 to make a testing appointment. CAP’s line is confidential, and their expert counselors can answer your questions. Click on the link below to learn more about local testing sites.
---> Get Tested for Free
Clackamas County World AIDS Day: AIDS Memorial Quilt Display
On View December 1–21, 2022
Free at-home HIV tests: December 1, 9am-4pm
Clackamas County Public Services Building: 2051 Kaen Road, Oregon City, OR
Clackamas County Public Health (CCPH) is proud to host a block of the AIDS memorial quilt in the Public Services building in Oregon City for the month of December. The quilt will be unveiled on Thursday, December 1st, in honor of World AIDS Day. CCPH honors the lives lost to AIDS, the specialists who have advanced HIV/AIDS health services, and the decades of work across the globe dedicated to eradicating HIV/AIDS and the stigma of this disease.
Free at-home HIV test kits will be available in the lobby of the Public Services Building on Thursday, December 1st, from 9am-4pm. Click the button below to learn more about Clackamas County Public Health.
---> Clackamas County Public Health
World AIDS Day - DRAG BINGO
December 1, 6-8pm, Sissy Bar Portland
World AIDS Day is an opportunity to fight against HIV transmission, support people living with HIV, and to commemorate those we have lost. Honor this special day with the Cascade Aids Project Ambassador Council—join us at Sissy Bar for drag bingo on Thursday, December 1st, from 6–8 pm. The event will be hosted by the fabulous Lala Benét! Bingo cards are $5—or $4 if you show up wearing red or 80’s attire! Click the button below to view the Facebook event page.
---> World AIDS Day - DRAG BINGO
Donate, Volunteer, and Spread the word about Esther's Pantry
Esther's Pantry provides food and personal care items to those in need living with HIV.
Esther’s Pantry is a food bank where clients select food from well-stocked shelves that will help support and maintain good health. Esther’s provides supplemental food and personal care items to over 250 clients each month. Much of the food we receive at Esther’s Pantry comes from community food drives. Donations dropped off at one of our sites go directly to individuals and families in our community who are living with HIV. Our clients visit Esther’s Pantry monthly to receive supplemental food. You can view their Wish List here or click on the link below to learn about drop-off sites for donations.
---> Esther's Pantry
Carlos Motta, Legacy, 2019, Film, Timeline: Ted Kerr and Carlos Motta, Voice-Over: Ari Shapiro, Camera: Tyler Haft, TRT 29:20
Carlos Motta’s Legacy, presented by P·P·O·W
December 1, 2022
P·P·O·W 392 Broadway 2nd Floor, New York, NY
In recognition of World AIDS Day on Thursday, December 1, P·P·O·W is proud to present a day-long screening of Carlos Motta’s Legacy, 2019, at 392 Broadway, NYC. Documenting an endurance performance, Legacy shows Motta wearing a dental gag while struggling to repeat a timeline of HIV/AIDS history.
Carlos Motta is a PICA alumni artist. His exhibition We Got Each Other's Back took place at PICA from November 2020 - February 2021.