Day With(out) Art - Asheville Art Museum

The Asheville Art Museum is proud to have partnered with Western North Carolina AIDS Project (WNCAP) and Visual AIDS to participate in Day With(out) Art 2021, from December 1 to December 5. The program was presented in conjunction with Ruminations on Memory with generous funding for exhibition programming provided by Art Bridges. For those unable to experience the program in-person, we wanted to make the resources and media available online.

Visual AIDS is a New York-based non-profit that utilizes art to fight AIDS by provoking dialogue, supporting HIV+ artists, and preserving a legacy, because AIDS is not over. In 1989, in response to the worsening AIDS crisis, Visual AIDS organized the first Day With(out) Art; a call to action that would celebrate the lives and achievements of lost colleagues and friends; encourage caring for all people with AIDS; educate diverse publics about HIV infection; and find a cure. Coinciding with World AIDS Day, Visual AIDS organizes annual observances of Day With(out) Art, creating and distributing free video programs to universities, museums, art institutions, and AIDS organizations to be screened on or around December 1.

ENDURING CARE is a video program highlighting strategies of community care within the ongoing HIV epidemic. The program features newly commissioned work by Katherine Cheairs, Cristóbal Guerra, Danny Kilbride, Abdul-Aliy A. Muhammad and Uriah Bussey, Beto Pérez, Steed Taylor, and J Triangular and the Women’s Video Support Project.

From histories of harm reduction and prison activism to the long-term effects of HIV medication, ENDURING CARE centers stories of collective care, mutual aid, and solidarity while pointing to the negligence of governments and non-profits. The program’s title suggests a dual meaning, honoring the perseverance and commitment of care workers yet also addressing the potential for harm from medications and healthcare providers. ENDURING CARE disrupts the assumption that an epidemic can be solved with pharmaceuticals alone, recasting community work as a lasting form of medicine.

To watch ENDURING CARE, click here.

Founded in 1986, WNCAP’s mission is to provide equitable access to care and reduce harm from HIV, Hepatitis C, and drug use. Posters located throughout the Museum shared HIV-related statistics and data. Each of the five posters contained QR codes linked to audio recordings of related conversations between HIV+ individuals living in Western North Carolina.

Listen to conversations between HIV+ individuals: