More To Me Than HIV. The Exhibition

Activism and perspectives by Glenn Stevens and David Fray

This year’s World AIDS Day is particularly special as the project More to Me Than HIV will be on display at Jubilee Library in Brighton from Sunday, November 28 for two weeks.

Three years ago I decided I would like to put together a project at Jubilee Library, with a miniature replica statute of Romany Mark Bruce’s AIDS Memorial, Tay, accompanied by a video installation by David Fray. We also displayed the brilliant Hankie Quilt Project by founder, Maurice McHale Parry. I organised for people living with HIV to join me and talk about their experiences. “HIV doesn’t have to dominate you... I allowed HIV to come into my life and I am in charge of that. My picture represents I am still living and going about my business, enjoying the fact that I am living a healthy life”

Although I have been happy to speak about my own HIV experience at various HIV organisations, I was particularly nervous about talking in my place of work. I had my part of the project tucked away at the back of the library and subconsciously ended up with participants sitting in a close-knit circle, almost forbidding anyone else to join in. The turning point for me was when guest speaker Sue Hunter from Positive Voices, and Radio Reverb’s HIV Hour, spoke, giving me an instant confidence to put together a much more public exhibition for World AIDS Day 2020. I put together a team of five, four of whom were also HIV+ with the idea of hosting a photo exhibition at Jubilee Library. We quickly established a name for the project: More to Me Than HIV, aiming to show the many other aspects of people living with HIV. We had our first meeting in February, then Covid-19 struck.

What has been amazing is that we all pulled together, had monthly Zoom meetings, and adapted the project as an online event. We asked people to send in a portrait of themselves along with two images that represented the ‘More to Me’ part of them along with three inspiring words. We were delighted when people began to submit their images and words, which David Fray put together as a montage Lockdown forced the project online, which suited this stage of the project perfectly. As the new year settled in, the group had a reshuffle and started to move the project on to the next stage, gathering people together to have their portraits taken. And now here we are, and the project is complete. I would like to thank Angus, David, Frances, Ian, Jason and Malcolm for all their hard work, as well as a shout out to Eric Page and Gary Pargeter for their help with our grant application and special thanks to all the staff at Jubilee Library for their support. “We can show that there is nothing to be scared of ashamed about HIV. HIV It is not something that controls our lives or holds us back from living fulfilling lives”

U=U recently celebrated its fifth anniversary. Not many people outside of the community of people living with HIV are aware of U=U, but it is an absolute game-changer, and should be shouted from the rooftops. U=U stands for Undetectable equals Untransmittable. This pinpoints the scientific fact that people with an undetectable HIV viral load cannot sexually pass on HIV. U=U enforces the importance of getting tested, and if the result is positive, getting the treatment that suppresses the virus to undetectable levels. At our project, we believe that the main barrier to getting tested and on treatment is HIV stigma. The UK national HIV awareness campaign in the 1980s was effective at educating the public about the presence of HIV, but it used fear as a motivating tool. The ramifications of this is the stigma that people living with HIV still endure decades later. It is a fact that people living with HIV can now live fulfilling and long lives, provided they have been tested, and are on successful treatment.

We believe that it is visibility that’s the key to educating the public and reducing the stigma associated with HIV. We can show that there is nothing to be scared of or ashamed about HIV. HIV is not something that controls our lives or holds us back from living fulfilling lives. Here are some quotes from our participants explaining why they are taking part in our exhibition:

“There is a lot more to me than just the stigma that some people carry around with them, so I was really happy to be a part of this project.” “I am taking part because I believe that visibility is the key to educating the public.” “There is so much more to an individual than a long-term health condition that they carry around with them. I think it is important to explain that so other people don’t have any fear or disregard for people living with HIV.” “HIV doesn’t have to dominate you... I allowed HIV to come into my life and I am in charge of that. My picture represents I am still living and going about my business, enjoying the fact that I am living a healthy life.’

You can see our exhibition from Sunday, November 28 at Jubilee Library, and on-screen at the other libraries in Brighton & Hove. Details can also be found on our website:

www.moretomethanHIV.life