Exhibition to highlight unheard voices and hidden lives from the HIV epidemic
02 October 2006
An exhibition of photos taken by men who have sex with men, sex workers, and people living with HIV from the Alliance’s Frontiers Prevention Project sites in Cambodia, Ecuador and India will dramatically increase the visibility of highly marginalised groups who are key to the AIDS epidemic in many developing countries.
The Unheard Voices, Hidden Lives exhibition, and a companion book, is the result of a multi-country participatory photo project which involved representatives from community-based organisations involved in implementing the Alliance’s Frontiers Prevention Project. Community members participated in workshops where they were given cameras and trained to use them effectively. Armed with their new equipment and knowledge they were asked to photograph their lives and experiences before coming together again at a second series of workshops to edit their photographs for both local and international publications and exhibitions.
Through these participatory photo workshops, and by becoming the creators of photography, the workshop participants have become authors of their own narratives, better able to influence how others perceive them, while simultaneously learning a new skill that can enhance their lives.
“In every country, participants were excited about learning a new skill and committed to using their cameras and training to tell their stories,” said the project’s coordinator Joseph O’Reilly.
“Silence and invisibility compound the stigma and discrimination that these groups face. It makes it harder for them to claim their rights, and limits our capacity to understand their experiences and needs. This project provides an opportunity to change that, by giving individuals from communities who are key to the epidemic the chance to represent themselves with their own images and words.
“The power of both the process and the quality of the photos has to be seen to be believed. We’re delighted that people will have the chance to see the participants’ photos and read their stories for themselves.”
Unheard Voices, Hidden Lives will be exhibited at Brighton’s Jubilee Library from November 13 until just after World AIDS Day on December 1. It will also appear as an online exhibition on the Alliance website and will be published as a book. For more information contact Joseph O’Reilly.