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First
Southern African Art Exhibition On HIV/AIDS
To Premiere At Durban 2000 Thirty-one
Southern African Artists, SECURE THE FUTURE™ and Harvard AIDS
Institute JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (June 13, 2000) -- Thirty-one renowned artists from five southern African countries have joined together in a unique project to raise global awareness and funds to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic that is threatening the region. An exhibition of their works -- entitled "ArtWorks for AIDS" -- will be shown for the first time at the 13th International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa, in July 2000. The exhibition is co-sponsored by SECURE THE FUTURE™, the US$100 million commitment by Bristol-Myers Squibb Company to support women and children with HIV/AIDS in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland, and the Harvard AIDS Institute of Boston, Massachusetts. After showings in the U.S. and Europe, the art works will be auctioned at a World AIDS Day event in Boston, Massachusetts, on November 30, 2000. All proceeds will be used to further fund programs designed to assist in the fight against HIV/AIDS in southern Africa. Marilyn Martin, director
of the South African National Gallery in Cape Town and curator of "ArtWorks
for AIDS," said that she was greatly moved by the response to SECURE
THE FUTURE’s call for interpretations of the theme -- the impact
of HIV/AIDS on women and children. Kenneth E. Weg, vice chairman, Bristol-Myers Squibb, said that the exhibition is an innovative step towards bringing the realities of the HIV/AIDS crisis in southern Africa to the attention of caring people in other parts of the world. "Our joint partnership of the exhibition and auction will help to channel the creative energies and prodigious talents of these artists into a positive contribution to combating the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the region,” he said. Dr. Max Essex, chair of the Harvard AIDS Institute, which is working with SECURE THE FUTURE on several projects in the region, said: "We deeply commend this collaborative effort by artists in southern Africa to draw attention to the epidemic that is sweeping across the region, with a particularly devastating impact on women and children." Ms. Martin said that participating artists, who include some of the best-known southern African names in contemporary visual art, have illustrated their ideas in many different ways -- abstract, enigmatic, didactic and hard-hitting. The works include photography, linocuts, oil on canvas, clay, wood and needlework. The artists include: Jane Alexander, Deborah Bell, Willie Bester, Lisa Brice, Norman Catherine, Trudi Dicks, David Goldblatt, Austin Hleza (work provided posthumously), Lallitha Jawahirilal, William Kentridge (auction only), Noria Mabasa, Valentim Macie, Joseph Madisia, Neo Matome, Kagiso Pat Mautloa, Stephen Mogotsi, Zwelethu Mthethwa, Velaphi Mzimba, Karel Nel, Sam Nhlengethwa, Wonderboy Thokozani Nxumalo, Steve Mashoabathe Rasehloho, Berni Searle, Johannes Mashego Segogela, Durant Sihlali, Penelope Siopis, Clive van den Berg, Hentie van der Merwe, Hercules David Viljoen and Sue Williamson, and artists from the Kuru Art Project. The exhibition will open at 1 pm on July 9 at the Bristol-Myers Squibb booth in the Durban Exhibition Centre. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company is a $20 billion diversified, global health and personal care company whose mission is to extend and enhance human life. The Harvard AIDS Institute is a university-wide organization dedicated to conducting and catalyzing international research to end the worldwide AIDS epidemic. Visit Bristol-Myers
Squibb at www.bms.com
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