December 1st- is World AIDS Day and a Day Without Art
Today is December 1st.
It is a day that marks two annual events- World AIDS Day and A Day Without Art- an International Day of Action and Mourning in Response to the AIDS Crisis.
Today is a day to reflect and to remember those we have lost to the AIDS pandemic.
Many of us who have worked in the arts since the 80’s and 90’s, remember when AIDS was called GRID (Gay-Related Immune Deficiency) (1). We remember losing our friends, colleagues, and loved ones to the disease. We remember people bartering their artwork to get health care to stay alive. We remember people losing their jobs, their housing, their health insurance, and their health care because there were no protections for those with HIV/AIDS.
We also remember the Culture Wars of that period. A time when the 1st amendment, all forms of freedom of expression, all types of arts organizations, artwork of all kinds (visual, performing, literary, film/moving image, etc.) and artists of all disciplines were under attack. This was the time period when the National Endowment for the Arts ceased its individual artists fellowship program (it has still to be fully reinstated as only the creative writing fellowships are now given).
It was also a time of action. FEAR NO ART & SILENCE =DEATH were common mantras of that period. We came together to respond to the censorship and defunding of the arts and to confront the collective blind eye turned towards the AIDS pandemic. Groups like ACT-UP (there was a very active Boston Chapter in the 80’s & 90’s) and Gran Fury were battling for all of us.
Today is also a time to gather strength and to build community.
If you are in Boston today, make the time to stop by the Cyclorama at the Boston Center for the Arts to take part in the 25th Medicine Wheel- by Medicine Wheel Productions– a twenty four hour vigil to commemorate those we have lost to AIDS. Over 250 artists and 100 performers are taking part in this year’s Medicine Wheel. Sections of the AIDS quilt are also on display. If you can’t go to this event or an event in your community today to commemorate December 1st, take the time to remember those who have been lost to the AIDS pandemic and to remember those who continue to fight. We all owe them at least that.
Never Forget and Never EVER Give up.
Kathleen Bitetti
Artist & Co-Founder of MALC
(1) Two resources about GRID:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay-related_immune_deficiency & http://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/11/science/new-homosexual-disorder-worries-health-officials.html?pagewanted=all