More to Me Than HIV Glenn Stevens explains the new project and looks back at memorable HIV/Aids campaigns over the years

Over the years many of the HIV/Aids campaigns have made use of striking images and memorable catchphrases to keep the topic of the disease in the public eye.

The success of these was the trigger for the creation of a new HIV campaign with the main objective of relegating to the past misconceptions of what it means to live with an HIV diagnosis, and to break down the stigma many of those living with HIV have experienced in the past and present.

The project is called More to Me Than HIV, inviting those living with an HIV-positive diagnosis to submit three personal images alongside three empowering words to show there’s More to Me Than HIV.

To mark World Aids Day 2020 (WAD), here are some of the other visual campaigns and symbols that have kept HIV/Aids in the public eye...

For those of us who grew up in the 1980s, the most enduring image from that time will be the terrifying tombstones telling us: “Don’t die of Ignorance”. Every household had a leaflet through their door, you could not walk down the street without seeing the same slogan blasted across billboards and when you popped the television on there was the same image, with John Hurt’s gravelly voice reiterating the same message. How effective this campaign was is still up for debate, but for many this is the image they recall when we talk about Aids.

Around the same time an American campaign group called Act Up (Aids Coalition to Unleash Power) was formed, with one of the founders being the renowned political Aids campaigner, Larry Kramer. From the very beginning the group understood the power of the image and used many striking symbols and slogans along with direct action protests to get their voices heard. Set up in New York in 1987, Act Up had a collective of artists under the banner Gran of Silence = Death, with the pink triangle (a symbol used during the Nazi Holocaust to identify homosexual men, but later reclaimed by the political gay community) along with the factual statement at the time, Silence = Death.

The ‘silence’ was not just about the silence from the politicians, but from the many people living with HIV who felt they could not speak up about their HIV+ status through fear of the stigma that was rife then and, to a degree, still is for many across the globe. At the same time graffiti/pop art artist Keith Haring was making a statement about the Aids crisis that was raging through New York. Haring’s work flowed through the New York subways and art galleries alike and became an important visual voice of the Aids crisis. Haring’s style of using bright colours and playful characters was, unlike the UK Government’s Don’t Die of Ignorance slogan, perfect for spreading the message about the need for safer sex and to alert everyone without scaring the bejeezers out of them. Instead, Haring’s style drew people in and provoked positive discussion about safer sex. I was one of the many people wearing his safer sex T-shirts, further spreading the message.

Unsurprisingly no one had the UK Government tombstones blazed across their chest.

Perhaps the most universally recognisable symbol, particularly during the build-up to WAD, is the Red Ribbon. The red ribbon symbol started in 1988 when a group of New York artists came together to create art in response to the Aids crises. When the group was joined by Marc Happel, a costume designer by trade, he brought the idea of using a red ribbon after being inspired by the yellow ribbons tied round trees in support the military personnel serving in the Gulf war.

From the very start the red ribbon was an easy way to allow people to show their support for WAD. In the early 1990s, for a short while a new trend began with some gay men living with HIV having a biohazard image tattoo.

For some this was seen as a radical way of saying, I’m HIV+, get over it. In some ways this was a strong political statement, but also letting others know their status upfront. Just as Act Up had reclaimed the pink triangle, being inked with a biohazard was a way of reclaiming an identity.

At this time there was also a need for many to have an outlet to express their grief and a very simple solution came with the idea of the Names Project Aids Memorial Quilt. The idea came from American Aids activist Cleve Jones, who came up with the idea while on the annual candlelight march through San Francisco in remembrance of the 1978 assassinations of San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk and mayor George Moscone. Wanting to mark all those who had died from an Aids-related illness, Jones asked people to write the name of someone they knew who had died from Aids on to a sign, then taped them all to a large piece of cloth and displayed it on the side of a San Francisco federal building. Once completed he thought the piece as a whole resembled a giant quilt. From there people took a piece of fabric 3in x 6in and stitched the name of a person who had died from Aids on to the quilt. Very quickly these panels had other symbols to commemorate the person they had lost, making each panel more personal.

HANKIE QUILT PROJECT of the names of all those from Brighton who have died from Aids, it’s also a symbol of hope.

Through the 1980s/90s Brighton recreated the idea from Cleve Jones and invited people to write the names of those who had died from Aids on to a large white sheet. Aids campaigner Arthur Law made a large panel covered in stars, with each star representing someone from Brighton who had died of Aids.

Brighton created a small Names Project, but it wouldn’t be until 2012 when two men from Brighton, Peter Moxom and Maurice McHale Parry, revised the idea of the Names Project and reinvented it in hankie form, and so the Hankie Quilt Project was born. Moxom and McHale put a call out for people to sew a name on to a hankie which was then sewn on to a larger panel by Robin Thompson. The project became part of that year’s Brighton & Hove Pride march, has since been displayed at the Brighton Dome, and last year was the main focus for the WAD display at Jubilee Library.

Another iconic symbol is Brighton & Hove Aids Memorial, TAY, created by local artist Romany Mark Bruce and unveiled by David Furnish on WAD 2009. Since then, TAY has not only become the focus point for the reading of the names of all those who have died from Aids, it´s also a symbol of hope

My starting point was the internationally recognised Aids ribbon, perhaps not original but poignant. My idea was for two figures, touching at the base as their paths crossed, soaring upwards, intertwining, with no certainty if they would meet again. Many of those affected by HIV and Aids in Brighton is the result of the union of two men, but the disease is not confined to gay men. Two figures would represent all those affected, one male, one genderless. My inspiration was memories of my friend Paul (Tay) who had died of Aids in the 1990s. I wanted the Memorial to represent not only the tragedy of Aids but also hope for the future with the advancement of medical treatment.” Romany Mark Bruce, sculptor of the Brighton & Hove Aids Memorial

DAVID FURNISH OPENING BRIGHTON & HOVE AIDS MEMORIAL IN 2009

With huge advances being made in the understanding of HIV and Aids, the medical profession made a great leap in reducing stigma with the discovery of combining a set of anti-retroviral drugs that suppressed HIV to a degree that those on effective treatment could not pass the virus on. This discovery led to the new international symbol to join the other HIV/Aids icons: U = U: Undetectable = Untransmittable.

How we started

For many years Brighton & Hove Libraries has recognised the impact of HIV on the city with book collections, readings, exhibitions and art installations around WAD to help commemorate the event.

Last year was the 10th anniversary of the Brighton & Hove Aids Memorial, and the Jubilee Library commissioned a film to tell the public about its history. This year, in January, two library staff members got together with artists and activists to plan for the WAD 2020 event.

There are six of us in total, five of whom are living with HIV. We are Glenn, Frances, Malcom, Jason, Ian and David. Collectively, we have over 100 year’s experience of living with HIV.

Stigma is a very negative word, and much has been written about it.

We recognised that HIV-related stigma was still an issue for people with HIV, and those who do not know their status. Stigma can result in people shrinking back from leading normal lives, and it can delay people getting tested for HIV, when early testing leads to better health management. It was decided that we would try to tackle HIV-related stigma in a different way, by barely mentioning it, and instead focus on the positive steps people have made since their HIV diagnosis. It was decided to champion the dreams and activities of people living with HIV and not to dwell on negative stereotypes. We decided to call the group More to Me Than HIV to show that we are people first and foremost, and more than just patients. In January we discussed having a mosaic of portraits and images. The design of the mosaic would be that of the Red Ribbon; the top loop would be a double arch, forming a heart made from a red ribbon. We realised that we would need many images to make a decent mosaic image. And then coronavirus arrived.

The project would not be able to advertise in the community, at charities and groups. We realised we would probably not get enough portraits to make a mosaic, so we decided instead to hold a small exhibition at Jubilee Library and on our website. However, due to Covid-19 we have had to postpone the exhibition at Jubilee Library until WAD 2021 and will be showcasing the exhibition online to coincide with HIV Testing Week on Monday, November 23. Get involved

Submit your three images and words by visiting www.moretomthanHIV.life

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