Experience

Antwerp Queer Arts Festival organises Artists Against Stigma in solidarity with people with HIV on 1-2-3 December 2023

Posted by Timothy on

The Antwerp Queer Arts Festival is joining forces with the artist collective HIVISIBLE and is launching a new festival concept on the occasion of World AIDS Day on 1 December. Artists Against Stigma invites artists from various disciplines to show their work on the theme of sexual health. 

The Toneelhuis, De Studio and De Cinema open their doors to music performances, performances, films and conversations on the occasion of World AIDS Day on December 1. Flemish sexual health organisation Sensoa and the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) also cooperate in the initiative.

The December festival starts on 1 December in Toneelhuis. The evening starts with a ‘human library’, in which various people, each from their own perspective – expert, experience expert, family of… – are involved in the theme of sexual stigma. In small groups you can talk to your ‘human book’ in a cozy corner of Toneelhuis. 

Nino_uncut

Brussels globetrotter nino_uncut uses his warm soul and jazz voice. With his first EP ‘Pills and Water‘, nino_uncut succeeds in transforming experiences of raw violence into a hymn to life. He reveals in a powerful, poetic and sensitive way the resilience he had to show in the face of the struggles associated with the discovery of being HIV positive. 

Nina Revlon

After this concert the deejaus take over. Nina Revlon is a multidisciplinary artist from Liège. She is an actress, model, deejay and outspoken HIV and trans activist. She wrote, among other things, a play about living with HIV and as a transgender woman. 

She is also an important voice in the Brussels and Liège queer scene as a spokesperson for trans activism and HIV. She is accompanied during her set by her partners from the ballroom scene, dancers Nabil Comme des Garçons and Yugo Basquiat. 

Veronika Deneuve

Known as the host of Send in the Clowns, but so much more: in the chaotic world we live in, DJ Veronika Deneuve likes to escape by taking you on an unapologetically euphoric ride. Whether she plays disco, pop, house or dance from any era, her goal is simple: to bring out the most flickering diva in all of us. Because we’re all born drag and the rest is naked! 

During the party you can expect remarkable interventions from performers Brenda Aerts and Mick Galliot Fabré.

De Studio

On 2 Decembe, the artists against stigma move to De Studio. Teresa Fabião is a dancer, researcher, teacher, and artist. She was born in Portugal and lived in Brazil for a long time. Teresa is co-founder of VIRAL, a Portuguese collective that approaches performing arts as a space to give new meanings to images related to HIV. 

The performance ‘UNA‘ is a study at the intersection of viruses and art. An investigation into her own journey of living as a woman with HIV over the past 10 years. ‘UNA’ can be seen for the first time in Belgium. 

Founded in Italy as Conigli Bianchi, the White Rabbits are a group of activists, performers, comic designers, illustrators, musicians… who work together to engage in public debate around HIV and AIDS. White Rabbits is sero-aware and sero-committed. 

You don’t have to be HIV positive to be HIV aware. What does this mean?

  • Reject fear and condemnation.
  • Know your HIV status.
  • Be aware and understand how STDs are transmitted.
  • Believe in a culture of prevention, which offers tools that enable choice and freedom.

You can join them in De Studio for a ‘work show’ around the theme. They are also setting up an exhibition with illustrations.

Film

Finally, there is the Belgian premiere of the documentary ‘Commitment to Life‘ on 3 December in De Cinema. Set against a rich Hollywood backdrop, ‘Commitment to Life’ documents the true story of the fight against HIV and AIDS in Los Angeles – and how a fearless group of people living with HIV and AIDS, doctors, movie stars, studio magnates and activists changed the course of the epidemic.

There will be an introductory panel discussion.

All you need to know and tickets here. 

Antwerp Pride 2024 & Antwerp Queer Arts Festival 2024

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