Tuesday, November 24, 2009

'From the Outside Looking In'



20 Artists: Francesc Abad, Ignasi Aballí, Iñaki Álvarez, Roger Bernat, Jordi Canudas, Biel Capllonch, Pep Dardanyà, Alícia Framis, Núria Güell, Jean-Charles Hue, Cova Macías, Anna Marín, Josep-Maria Martín, Marina Núñez, Antonio Ortega, Santiago Ortiz, Javier Peñafiel, L. A. Raeven, Job Ramos, Erich Weiss.

Curator: Miquel Bardagil

On December 1-st the ArtAids Foundation will present 'On the Outside Looking In' in several venues throughout Barcelona. This exhibition, featuring works by artists from Barcelona and those with a special link to the city, aims to raise awareness and create a greater understanding of people living with HIV and to emphasise the need for prevention.

Curator Miquel Bardagil has linked the "outside" in the exhibition's title to the idea of the outdoors. This concept is the starting point for the exhibition, providing us with an insight into the experience of HIV-positive people. It underlies the work of the artists, who employ a wide range of disciplines including installations, photography, drawing, painting and video.

Simultaneously, Barcelona's Casa Àsia will host 'More to Love', an exhibition of works by twenty Thai and European artists that was presented by ArtAids in Bangkok and Chiang Mai (Thailand) in 2008.

To complement 'On the Outside Looking In', ArtAids is organising educational workshops at Casa Elizalde and an educational project in the neighbourhood of La Mina.

After its Barcelona season, 'On the Outside Looking In' will be presented in Oviedo (Banco Herrero Head Office) from September through November 2010. From December 2010 through February 2011, the exhibition will be shown at Valencia's MuVIM.

ArtAids was founded in Holland in 2006 by writer and collector Han Nefkens, who has been living with HIV since 1987. It was set up to fight the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS by commissioning works by acclaimed international artists in order to explore the illness, help increase public awareness and improve society's attitude towards HIV-positive persons.

ArtAids has also created projects that provide medical assistance to those who would not otherwise receive it, and finances HIV research in Spain and Thailand.

Since its inception, ArtAids has worked in Holland, Belgium, France, Switzerland and Thailand. In 2010, ArtAids will be present at Dak'Art, the Biennial of Contemporary African Art in Senegal.

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