The Show Must Go On: 35 years of HIV and AIDS activism in the ComitéVLC
The Show Must Go On is an exhibition journey through the history of HIV and a walk through the streets of Valencia, the setting for the commitment and 35 years of activism of the first organisation of affected people in the Valencian Community: the Citizens Anti-AIDS Committee (ComitéVLC).
Through the work of artists and people of national and international renown, through pictures, posters, documents, news, songs, objects and testimonies, this exhibition looks over a story that covers not only medical advances and social achievements, but also collective resistance and the construction of a diverse and organised community that refuses to give up. The Show Must Go On intends to remind us that even if medication nowadays makes HIV a chronic, asymptomatic and controlled infection, a vast number of political and collective challenges remain.
Born in 1989 out of the urgency and courage of those most vulnerable because of HIV and their families - drug users, captives and ex-captives, sex workers and identity and sexual dissidents - the ComitéVLC emerged as a light of mutual support for those who sought, mainly, to continue to live. At a time where misinformation and fear of AIDS were the shadows menacing population with HIV, its history is the one from all those who, outside society, knew how to organise themselves, take care of themselves and resist, building foundations of solidarity and a strong social and communal structure.
Over these four decades, the activism of the ComitéVLC and the HIV movement in Spain and around the world has known how to transform itself, adapting to the pace of the needs and challenges of each time. From the 80's, a period of time and despair, until today, when science offers certainties that once were inconceivable - as the fact that, when treated, HIV is undetectable and impossible to transmit - work has been constant. During all these years, if anything remained and got through the activist spirit of anti-AIDS movements, is the artistic and cultural expression, as basic tools of visibility, and the contribution from a vast number of artists, musicians, illustrators and designers as drivers of change for the achievement of rights, prevention, empathy and understanding in society.
At present, one new case of HIV is diagnosed every day in the Valencian Community, mostly in men who have sex with other men, despite the fact that, globally, women are still the most affected and vulnerable group. In four decades, no cure has been developed for this virus, neither has an effective preventive vaccine. Stigma is the main cause of late diagnosis, mental health problems, unemployment and isolation. There are countries where treatment is not even an option, and in places where is accessible, as in Spain, the HIV population is ageing in particular ways, many of them with quality life and many other consequences due to their long trajectory with the infection.
This exhibition project honours those who are no longer with us, those who spoke out in times of silence, and to the people that keep working everyday tirelessly for a world without stigma. Because, as the title of this exhibition suggests, the collective effort for dignity, coexistence, equality and life must persist. And to eradicate HIV, the show must go on.
