Visual AIDS’ Day With(out) Art: ALTERNATE ENDINGS, RADICAL BEGINNINGS

ALTERNATE ENDINGS, RADICAL BEGINNINGS is the 28th annual iteration of Visual AIDS’ long-standing Day With(out) Art project. Curated by Erin Christovale and Vivian Crockett for Visual AIDS, the video program prioritizes Black narratives within the ongoing AIDS epidemic and is comprised of seven innovative short videos newly commissioned from artists Mykki Blanco, Cheryl Dunye & Ellen Spiro, Reina Gossett, Thomas Allen Harris, Kia Labeija, Tiona Nekkia McClodden, and Brontez Purnell.

In spite of the impact of HIV/AIDS within Black communities, these stories and experiences are consistently excluded from larger artistic and historical narratives. In 2016, African Americans represented 44 percent of all new HIV diagnoses in the United States. Given this context, it is increasingly urgent to feature stories that consider and represent the lives of those housed within this statistic. ALTERNATE ENDINGS, RADICAL BEGINNINGS highlights the marginalized voices within broader Black communities nationwide, including queer and trans people.

The commissioned works include intimate meditations of young HIV-positive protagonists; a consideration of community-based HIV/AIDS activism in the South; explorations of the legacies and contemporary resonances within AIDS archives; a poetic journey through New York exploring historical traces of queer and trans life; and more. Together, the videos provide a platform and a voice for those deeply affected by the ongoing epidemic.

ALTERNATE ENDINGS, RADICAL BEGINNINGS will screen on loop in the Lightbox Gallery (Level 5) throughout the day.

Free with museums admission

Please note that the presentation of No More, America will resume in the Lightbox Gallery on Saturday, December 2, 2017.

This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts and the generous support of the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation. Visual AIDS would also like to thank the artists for the time and resources they have contributed to this project.