AIDS Correspondences explores the evolving temporalities of living with HIV/AIDS and the changing social attitudes towards the virus over the years. Through screenings, narration and discussion, the programme looks into the histories of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Greece and Spain, presenting artistic and activist responses that reflect on social attitudes, mostly from when infection signalled death and examining the distinctiveness of these contexts to globally dominant histories. The programme will then explore the contemporary temporality of living with HIV, examining the impact of antiretroviral therapies on sex, subjectivity and lived experiences, especially in gay male subcultures. AIDS Correspondences is the outcome of a series of exchanges between Panos Fourtoulakis with Aimar Arriola and with João Florêncio—correspondence as a way to connect times and places, presences and absences.
The programme consists of 2 sessions, on 27 and 28 February.
Tuesday 27/2
6-8 pm
Curators Panos Fourtoulakis and Aimar Arriola present aspects of their ongoing correspondence on artistic responses to the HIV/AIDS crisis across Greece and Spain and broader reflections on related topics. Moving image works, documentation of performances, activist actions, and other material – sourced from publicly accessible and private archives – serve as entry points to access and reflect upon often-forgotten queer temporalities. The session explores how the two countries’ histories resonate with one another and how they diverge from globally dominant HIV/AIDS narratives.
Moving image works, video excepts, performance, and activist documentation by ACT UP Barcelona, Águeda Bañón, Alexis Bistikas, Liliana Couso and Virginia Villaplana, Pepe Espaliu, Pepe Mirales and Vicky Vergou, among others.
Selection by Panos Fourtoulakis and Aimar Arriola (as part of the AIDS Anarchive project developed with Nancy Garín and Linda Valdés).
