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US call for AIDS-related work

From: Visual AIDS

You are invited to submit proposals for 'Bodies of Resistance', an exhibition which aims to draw attention to the global spread of AIDS and its implications for the millennium, alongside contemporary cultural debates about representations of the body. The exhibition will open at Real Art Ways, Hartoford, Connecticut in the US in November 1999 and will then hopefully tour to New York or Los Angeles in 2000. We are also seeking a venue in Durban to coincide with the International AIDS Conference in 2000. The exhibition outline is as follows:

"I live my body ... the body is what I immediately am ... I am my body to the extent that I am" - Sartre, Being and Nothingness. In March 1998, the global rate of new HIV infections was 16 000 per day, an increase of 50% from estimates given in December 1997 (UNAIDS statistics).

'Bodies of Resistance' will show commissioned works by 15-20 artists which, directly or indirectly, consider issues significant to the global spread of AIDS and its implications for the new millennium. The exhibition will initiate debate about changing representations of the body and how the AIDS pandemic has influenced the practice of artists at the end of the 20th century.

In the last 50 years of this century, critical debate about the role of the body in cultural representation has flourished, challenging traditional philosophies and asserting a mutual interdependence between body and psyche. In particular, feminist artists, gay artists, artists of colour and cultural theorists have radically redefined cultural discourse about the body, challenging issues of representation and power. The body is recognised as an alternative medium, a site of confrontation and control.

The effect of the AIDS pandemic on this shifting discourse cannot be underestimated. In the 1980s and 90s in the US, AIDS activists developed sophisticated representations of the gay body alongside cutting, and often darkly humorous, tag lines which challenged public policy, treatment issues and the strategies of the medical and pharmaceutical establishments. Image and text combined to combat homophobia and the stigmatisation of people with AIDS, and to express some of the anger and frustration felt in the face of a seemingly unstoppable pandemic.

'Bodies of Resistance' will consider the complex ways in which the AIDS pandemic has influenced artists whose work references the body, and through this will raise questions about the significance of AIDS in our culture and worldwide. The exhibition will draw attention to the ongoing work of artists in this arena; work proposed for the exhibition ranges from considerations of the body and desire and how this has shifted in light of the AIDS pandemic, to debates about genetic engineering and the future of medical science, to notions of communication/loss of communication, to the role of the body in a new cyber-world, to meditations on death and dying in Western society.

We anticipate that approximately 60% of the artists in the exhibition will be HIV positive.

Subject to funding, artists will be paid an honorarium. Please send proposals and/or JPEG images to visaids@earthlink.net. Hard copy proposals and slides/images can be mailed to Visual AIDS, 526 W26th St #510, New York NY 10001. Due to the short time-scale please contact us asap - thank you.

* Founded in 1988, Visual AIDS strives to increase public awareness of AIDS through the visual arts, creating programmes of exhibitions, events and publications, and working in partnership with artists, galleries, museums and AIDS organisations. By mobilising the visual arts communities, Visual AIDS raises money to provide direct support to artists living with HIV/AIDS. These services include: representation in the Archive Project, the largest national slide archive of works by artists with HIV/AIDS, and used by curators, galleries, museums and historians; free photo-documentation of art work; artists materials grants to artists on a low income; emergency grants; free access to lawyers for estate planning; opportunities to exhibit work; quarterly newsletters; advice and advocacy.

Advice for artists

One of South Africa's best known artists, Judith Mason, will be at the Chelsea Gallery on the second Wednesday and last Saturday morning of each month to critique or discuss the work of any amateur or professional artist who wish to bring in work. Fees will be R25 for participating artists - who are asked to bring no more than three works - and R10 for people who wish to simply take part in the discussion. The programme began in February, and is proving extremely popular, "like a master class".

For more info call (021) 761-6805. Chelsea Gallery, 51 Waterloo Road, Wynberg, Cape Town.

Taipei Print and Drawing Biennial

ArtThrob reader Lisa van Wyk writes: I have found some information regarding the 9th International Biennial Print and Drawing Exhibition: 1999 ROC - Taipei Fine Arts Museum. Application forms seem to have been sent to all galleries and some educational institutions. A total amount of US$48 500 in prizes and citations will be awarded to the winners. The Taipei Fine Arts Museum, which is hosting the exhibition, invites all artists to submit original prints or drawings before May 31 1999.

Anyone interested could try and get in touch with Mr DS Liu, the Assistant Representative, Chief of Cultural Division of the Taipei Liaison Office in the Republic of South Africa. His phone number is (012) 362-1645/6/7 or fax on (012) 362-0933. There is also a website at www.tfam.gov.tw or e-mail tfam01@ms2.hinet.net1.

Applications for Amsterdam

For artists who would like to spend a few months working in Amsterdam, applications for a residency at the Thami Mnyele Foundation studio are due in at the end of this month. Most recent incumbents have been Jeremy Wafer of Durban and, before him, Mustafa Maluka of Cape Town.

All details of the conditions of the residency and how to apply can be found on the Foundation's new website at www.thami-mnyele.nl.

Awards to recognise support of arts and culture

The Arts and Culture Trust of the President (ACT) will once again recognise individuals and institutions that have supported the development of arts and culture in South Africa through its annual Arts and Culture Awards.

The awards, which were instituted in 1998, recognise excellence in 11 categories, eight of which carry monetary prizes. The winners of the monetary categories will receive R10 000 each.

Closing date for entries for the awards is June 30 1999, and the winners will be announced at a ceremony in Cape Town on September 23 (entrants will be informed of the venue at a later date).

Nominations must state clearly the category for which the person/institution is being entered and include the following:
1. The nominee's name and signed agreement to be nominated;
2. A motivation for the nomination;
3. The name of the company/organisation/person nominating the nominee;
4. A CV of the nominee or a list of activities of the institution.

Nominations should be sent to: The Administrator, The Arts and Culture Trust of the President, Suite 126, Private Bag X18, 7701 Rondebosch, or faxed to (021) 689-7589, by 16h00 on June 30 1999. No extensions to this date will be considered.

The monetary categories, and to which person or organisation each is open, are as follows:

1. Arts and culture journalist of the year: South African radio, TV or print media journalists, either freelance or permanent, in any part of the country, who write about/report on the arts and culture, whether on a daily, weekly or monthly basis;

2. Print publication of the year in support of the arts and culture: Any South African daily, weekly or monthly newspaper, journal, newsletter, magazine, which as a whole, or a section of which reports on, provides information about, offers constructive criticism, provides debate about arts and culture, or any aspect of it;

3. Electronic media of the year in support of the arts: South African radio or television programme or internet service which provides information about, comments or reports on any aspect of the arts and culture;

4. Arts and culture publicists of the year: Any media publicity company, agency or department of an institution whose primary task is to generate publicity and thereby audiences and markets for arts and culture or any aspect thereof;

5. Arts and culture education project of the year: Any agency or organisation involved in advocacy around arts and culture education anywhere in the country, or any formal or non-formal education programme which imparts skills - artistic, administrative, educational, etc - in the arts, at primary, secondary, tertiary or adult level;

6. Cultural development project of the year: Any project or programme undertaken by any formal or non-formal institution in any of the cultural, government, private or business sectors, in any arts and culture discipline, with the primary aim of developing the arts - skills, infrastructure, building audiences, etc - or access to the arts among historically disadvantaged communities;

7. Arts administrator of the year: Any person in cultural organisations, government, the business community or activities concerned primarily with administration, policy, funding or management of the arts and culture or any aspect of it;

8. Lifetime achievement award: Anyone, dead (posthumous) or alive, older than sixty years, who has spent the best part of their lives in service to the arts and culture, not as a practising arts primarily (although they could have practised as an artist in any field), but in other areas supportive of the development and flourishing of the arts and culture in the country.

The three non-monetary categories are:

9. City/town of the year in support of the arts: Any city or town in South Africa which has supported the arts and culture through its vision and policy, its structures, personnel and budgets, its ongoing development and financial support of the cultural personnel and administrators, the range and quality of cultural events held in it and its commitment to cultural tourism;

10. Province of the year in support of the arts: Any province in South Africa which has supported the arts and culture through its quality and vision of cultural policy, the organisational, management and financial soundness, efficiency and competence of the provincial department responsible for the arts, the devising, implementing and quality of cultural legislation in the province and the sustainability of independent statutory structures responsible for arts and culture, and the range and quality of cultural activities supported by the province;

11. International arts sponsor of the year: Any foreign donor, embassy, government department or institution, based in South Africa or abroad, which supports South African arts and culture financially, or through training, exposure or other means.

A list of suggested criteria for each category is available from the Administrator of The Arts and Culture Trust, Suite 126, Private Bag X18, 7701 Rondebosch.

Funding applications invited

The Arts and Culture Trust of the President is inviting applications for its funding of projects focusing on the arts, culture and heritage.

Funding for such projects is made in May and November each year by the trustees, and the deadline for applications for the May allocation is April 10 1999.

Grants are made in the art disciplines of film, music, theatre, dance, craft, literature, visual art, as well as arts administration and community art.

Application forms and details of criteria are available from the Administrator, The Arts and Culture Trust of the President, tel: 021-689-7672, fax: 021-689-7589, or from Suite 126, Private Bag 18, Rondebosch, 7701.

Workshop manager wanted

The Market Photography Workshop is looking for a special person with administrative, management, writing, computer and people skills who can work with a range of people including professional photographers, funders, clients, students, teachers, suppliers, and overseas visitors. Photographic experience would be a plus. Must be able to work independently. Starting date June 1 1999. Salary R5 000/month plus 13th cheque and medical aid. Please send a covering letter, CV and three references to Cedric Nunn, Director, Market Photography Workshop, PO Box 8656, JHB 2000 or fax 492-1235. Call 832-1641 ext 106 or e-mail photoworks@market.theatre.co.za for more information. Deadline April 30 1999.


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