On World AIDS Day, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art invites the public to discuss issues associated with the spread of HIV.
According to the Russian Federal Research and Methodology Center for the Prevention of AIDS, as of June 30, 2020 over a million people in Russia were living with HIV. This statistic confirms that HIV is one of the most serious issues Russia is facing today, which is why Garage has joined the campaign to combat the spread of the virus.
A number of journalists have pointed out that the theme of HIV and AIDS appears to have been dropped from the media agenda and is only brought up when a scandal or a serious conflict occurs. There is little regular coverage of the issue. Discrimination against people living with HIV remains a problem: many are stigmatized because of limited public understanding of the virus, the way it is spread and treated, and what can be done to help people living with HIV.
The marathon of public events is the Museum’s first step toward developing a program of regular events for the prevention of the spread of HIV. Topics discussed will include the specific nature of the spread of the virus, statistics, ways of preventing its spread, and HIV as a cultural phenomenon that has changed contemporary art.