Exhibition of AIDS activism in visual media coming to Harvard

ACT UP New York: Activism, Art and the AIDS Crisis, 1987 - 1993, a new exhibition at the Harvard Art Museum's Carpenter Center, includes posters, stickers, and other visual media that were conceived in the midst of the AIDS crisis. The art is a presentation of almost a decade of AIDS activism efforts in New York City. The exhibit runs October 15-December 23, 2009.

"By highlighting the efficacy of political organizing and activist graphics at the height of the 1980's AIDS crisis, this exhibition opens questions about the possibilities for social and political change today," Helen Molesworth, the Maisie K. and James R. Houghton Curator of Contemporary Art at the Harvard Art Museum, said in a public statement.

"The history of the United States is a history of the struggle for civil rights; the exhibition hopes to tell part of that story."

The exhibition marks both the 20-year anniversary of grassroots organization ACT UP New York and the 40-year anniversary of the iconic Stonewall Riots.

"We are extremely pleased to present [the exhibition]," Marjorie Garber, Director of the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, said. "The exhibition shows the critical intelligence that artists bring to bear when it comes to movements for social change."

Aside from visual works of art, the exhibition also features the premiere of the ACT UP Oral History Project, installed in the lobby of the Carpenter Center. Using headphones, visitors can watch one of fourteen monitors for interviews with surviving members of ACT UP New York from 2001 to the present. Full transcripts from the project, produced by Sarah Schulman and Jim Hubbard, can be viewed online at www.actuponline.org.

The much-anticipated exhibit will also include work from guerilla artist collectives such as Gran Fury, Silence=Death Project, Gang, and Fierce Pussy. What could formerly be found only in subway cars, transit stations, taxi cabs, and on bus panels will now be proudly displayed in a locale of higher repute, and valued as powerful tools that shaped society during a time when it was needed most.

The opening celebration in honor of the exhibit will be held on Thursday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts (24 Quincy St., Cambridge). Admission is free and the event is open to the public. Visit www.harvardartmuseum.org for a list of special events pertaining to the exhibit, ongoing through December.