ARTISTIC REPRESENTATIONS OF HIV IN NORTHERN IRELAND: HOW THE ARTS CAN CONTRIBUTE TO HIV AWARENESS, PREVENTION AND STIGMA-REDUCTION IN A CONSERVATIVE ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

IntroductionThe International AIDS conference in Melbourne in 2014 gave rise to a diverse set of cultural responses around HIV and AIDS, including my own practice-as-research performance installation,GL RY, in a public square throughout the conference. Using the concept of a hole as metaphor for transmission and transformation, it asked what histories, secrets, stigma, information, art, affects might slip through a small hole?MethodsIn 2016 the work had a new iteration in Belfast for the Outburst Queer Arts Festival. We worked closely with people living with HIV in Northern Ireland to find ways to convey their experiences safely in a public arena. It took up the challenge from 2014 where, wo..