World AIDS Day

we are village is proud to partner with Visual AIDS for Day With(out) Art 2023 by presenting Everyone I Know Is Sick, a program of five videos generating connections between HIV and other forms of illness and disability.

The program features newly commissioned work by Dorothy Cheung (Hong Kong), Hiura Fernandes & Lili Nascimento (Brazil), Beau Gomez (Canada/Philippines), Dolissa Medina & Ananias P. Soria (USA), and Kurt Weston (USA).

Inspired by a statement from Cyrée Jarelle Johnson in the book Black Futures, Everyone I Know Is Sick examines how our society excludes disabled and sick people by upholding a false dichotomy of health and sickness. Inviting us to understand disability as a common experience rather than an exception to the norm, the program highlights a range of experiences spanning HIV, COVID, mental health, and aging. The commissioned artists foreground the knowledge and expertise of disabled and sick people in a world still grappling with multiple ongoing pandemics.

The evening will begin by creating an altar where participants are encouraged to bring in objects of personal meaning, letters, photos, share stories relating to care, light a candle, etc. Space will be held to share on the theme before and after watching the videos.

PROGRAM 6pm – 9pm

• open circle by Marcelo Alves

• Dorothy Cheung, Heart Murmurs

• Hiura Fernandes and Lili Nascimento, Aquela criança com AID$ (That Child with AID$)

• Beau Gomez, This Bed I Made

• Dolissa Medina and Ananias P. Soria, Viejito/Enfermito/Grito (Old Man/Sick Man/Shout)

• Kurt Weston, Losing the Light

• Closing

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.