Art, Women and HIV/AIDS in the ‘1990s: An Epidemic in the Feminine

Abstract

This paper will analyze a selection of artistic works that deal with the topic of HIV/AIDS and women to determine how art has provided responses to specific issues, from a gendered perspective, which have remained marginal within the global context of studies on the epidemic from an artistic point of view. The objective is to study the specific characteristics of these manifestations and their social and artistic impact. The study of HIV/AIDS and women also involves reflecting on the position of women in contemporary society, which is the basis for many of the works that address this subject and use public spaces to openly condemn the issues that make women more vulnerable to HIV infection. Moreover, a review of these works of art and initiatives entails an engagement with art of recent decades which, both from conceptual and technical standpoints, proves inseparable from the significant scientific advances that have taken place. The methodology implemented focuses on a qualitative study with an interpretative approach, through a multiple-case study strategy. Two frameworks were established for selection. A temporal framework limits the study to practices developed in the 1990, and a geographical framework identifies Spain and South Africa as principal areas of focus. The main findings indicate that women face a dual vulnerability, derived from both biological and social factors, and that the art of the 1990s represented a turning point regarding three fundamental issues. First, artistic activism emerged that fostered and brought to public attention the necessity of addressing a gendered perspective in relation to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Secondly, the proposals of South African artists highlighted the unequal impact of the epidemic, and finally, the artistic practices developed in Spain advocated for active social engagement, with strategies inherited from the mass media that mobilize the political positioning of the social and civic fabric in response to the virus.