A blog about the 16th International AIDS Conference, Toronto, Canada, August 13-18, 2006.
There is a smattering of AIDS art throughout the city in honor of the conference. On my way downtown on Saturday, I stopped by the corner of Bay and Bloor, where AIDS, the 1989 sculpture created by the Canadian artist collective General Idea was on display in front of the Royal Ontario Museum. Actually, I had to stop by a second time, later in the day, because AIDS was still under wraps in the morning, which seemed fitting considering the year the sculpture was completed and the prevailing attitudes at the time. The sculpture was inspired by Robert Indiana's LOVE, which eventually ended up on the U.S. 8 cent stamp in 1973. AIDS was first displayed in Hamburg, Germany, where it began to accumulate graffiti. Much of the public's thoughts about the disease were removed after its display at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art--to the shock of GI. But I spied a few indelible comments.
AIDS is just one of the several art exhibits, shows and films running this week that I hope to get to. The Art Gallery of Ontario is featuring Silent/Listen by Los Angeles AIDS activist group Ultra Red, and there is the 0.7% show at the Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts, which explores the slow government response to the epidemic. 0.7% makes reference to the statement made by former Canada Prime Minister Lester Pearson that the country should set aside 0.7% of its GNP to aid for developing nations, an, as of yet, unachieved goal.
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