• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

Photo

The Keiskamma Altarpiece, created by 130 women in Hamburg, South Africa, represents the town̵

HIV/AIDS is a global tragedy so devastating that it seems as though beauty would be scarce in any artistic depiction of the pandemic. But the glittering lights of awareness, activism, education and community strength give hope for the future, brightening an otherwise-dim portrait of the situation.

One such inspirational work of art is the Keiskamma Altarpiece, a visual representation of a South African town’s battle with HIV/AIDS. The piece, which is part of the MAKE ART/STOP AIDS initiative, opens Wednesday in Kaufman Hall and will be on display until March 11.

Made by 130 women in Hamburg, South Africa, the three-layer altarpiece signifies even more than meets the eye – and at 13 by 22 feet, there is a lot to look at.

“Many of the images on the altarpiece are of individuals in the community,” said Kristen Thompson, a UCLA alumna and program assistant for the altarpiece.

“There are names written all over it. All of a sudden you realize that these are names of people who have passed,” she added. “It is an emotional representation of what (HIV/AIDS) actually is. You’re compelled to understand really acutely what is happening.”

Modeled after a Catholic altarpiece from 16th-century Germany that has panels depicting suffering and eventual survival of the plague, the Keiskamma Altarpiece is a powerful interpretation of its 16th-century predecessor.

The Keiskamma Altarpiece’s intricately stitched people and landscapes create something strikingly different from its inspiration, yet similar in spirit.

David Gere, associate professor and co-chair of the UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures and director of MAKE ART/STOP AIDS, explained the significance of the project’s roots.

“In looking at these images and reconceptualizing them, male saints like St. Anthony were turned into images of old women that are saints to their community,” Gere said. “Christ on the cross became a mourning widow in her blue mourning cloak.”

Gere added that the women of Hamburg have taken images such as the ones above and made them their own.

“The women of the community have distilled these images and have given them back to us in a very homespun way, showing us their community and how they transcend their suffering,” he said.

The women’s story of a town of 3,500, 30 percent of which are infected with HIV, is told with fabric, yarn, thread, shiny beads, wire and a wooden frame.

“This art piece is a basis for understanding and being in contact with something that is across the world which we usually think of in statistics,” said Paymon Ebrahimzadeh, a program assistant to the Keiskamma Altarpiece. “Although this is affecting one village locally, it’s an international movement. It is a globalizing act.”

Ebrahimzadeh, also a UCLA alumnus, says the altarpiece is a political piece. Its grassroots power makes it a remarkable tool and its message has enabled an intercontinental exchange.

Many of the AIDS-related deaths in Hamburg and elsewhere could have been prevented with antiretroviral drugs, but it will take a greater worldwide understanding and emotional investment in this issue for drugs to be widely distributed in places where they are needed most.

“To create something people have to believe that there is potential for the future,” said Claudia Spears, cochairwoman of the Holman Organizing for People Empowerment Committee of Holman United Methodist Church in Los Angeles, where the altarpiece was previously on display.

“The women of Hamburg were so inspired by the idea that they could create a masterpiece, and they could also earn funds to help feed their family and purchase antiretroviral drugs for their grandchildren by working on (the altarpiece),” Spears added.

The Keiskamma Altarpiece is truly a masterpiece, but Hamburg’s story is not finished.

“It leaves it to you,” Thompson said. “What will the next chapter in this pandemic be? These women have set an amazing precedent that we need to follow.”