Thirty exhibition to open on World AIDS Day

Thirty exhibition to open on World AIDS Day

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision Auckland presents Thirty, a moving image exhibition that illuminates the early years of HIV AIDS, explores changing community attitudes and responses, and acknowledges those that have passed. The exhibition endeavours to break stereotypes – and, in particular, to give voice to the underrepresented story of women and AIDS.

Thirty is composed of a range of historical and contemporary moving images, presented alongside panels from the New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt. The exhibition encompasses a range of genres including: current affairs footage, advertising, documentaries, awareness campaigns, artistic interpretations, and personal responses to HIV AIDS.

The Thirty exhibition is based on the acclaimed exhibition, 30, presented in Wellington earlier this year. Both exhibitions commemorate 2014 as marking the 30th anniversary of the first death of a person in New Zealand with an AIDS related illness.

The Auckland manifestation of Thirty develops upon the material presented in 30 in Wellington by incorporating an expanded segment on women and AIDS. This complements and contrasts with the original exhibition materials.

Over recent months Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision staff have been working with producers and organisations that have commissioned and produced material addressing women’s experiences of HIV AIDS to acquisition this content into the collection (where it will be preserved for future researchers).

According to Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision Programme Developer, Paula Booker, these new items address a gap in the archive’s collections holdings in this area, as well as larger social and media biases.

“The early epidemic of HIV infection and AIDS in New Zealand was highly concentrated among gay men (and they are still the group most at risk of contracting HIV in New Zealand),” says Booker. “Accordingly, the majority of high profile education and health campaigns have been targeted to this group.”

“However, New Zealand HIV statistics show that an increasing proportion of new infections are between heterosexual individuals. The commonly held stereotype that HIV only occurs in gay men must be reconsidered, so that other HIV positive men, women and children can receive timely testing, diagnoses and support to live healthy lives with HIV.”

One of the newly-deposited films that will feature in Thirty is Altered Lives (2012, produced by Bronwen Gray). This is a composite of four short animated films about women with HIV AIDS, based on true stories told to the producer. Another is For the Love of a Child: When Do you Tell a Child they are HIV Positive?, a digital storytelling clip produced by Positive Women in 2009.

This material is positioned in conversation with historical footage, including news stories dating back to 1984.

The Thirty exhibition is presented in association with Positive Women, the Auckland Pride Festival, and the New Zealand AIDS Foundation.

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision invites members of the public to attend the opening of the Thirty exhibition on World AIDS Day, 1 December 2014, at 6pm. At Level 1, 300 Karangahape Road, Auckland.

The exhibition will run from 2 - 24 December 2014, and 14 January - 27 February 2015.

Listing details: Thirty moving image exhibition
Exhibition runs: 2 - 24 December 2014 and 14 January - 27 February 2015
Opening event: 6pm, 1 December 2014
Where: Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision, Level 1, 300 Karangahape Rd, Auckland
Free admission

ENDS

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