Keiskamma Alterpiece detail

Make Art/Stop AIDS (MA/SA) is a global initiative that harnesses the power of art to address the global AIDS crisis and to stimulate education and activism.  MA/SA is a powerful, traveling, international exhibit of art created over the last two decades in the U.S., South Africa, India, and Brazil in response to the AIDS pandemic.  MA/SA began its world tour at UCLA's Fowler Museum with related initiatives in 2006 and continues through the present.

Elements comprising this creative endeavor include:

• Major exhibition, which examines AIDS through art
• Related exhibits, including the Keiskamma Altarpiece
• Comprehensive series of free public programs
• Teen AIDS Awareness and Action program-a partnership among the Fowler, UCLA's Department of World Arts and Cultures, UCLA AIDS Institute, and ANSA

In 2006-2007, ANSA coordinated the Los Angeles tour of the Keiskamma Altarpiece, an enormous folk-art masterpiece created by 120 rural South African women whose lives are deeply impacted by HIV/AIDS.  ANSA brought the Altarpiece to three local churches located in the Crenshaw district, Hollywood, and Santa Monica and worked with them to create extensive related programming. The national tour brought the art piece to the World AIDS Conference in Toronto, community centers throughout the US, American churches and other religious institutions, and to UCLA for the purpose of educating and involving the public in the local and global fight against HIV/AIDS.

In 2008, ANSA promoted the Make Art|Stop AIDS exhibit at the Fowler Museum, which ran from February through June, including the exhibition opening and a series of public educational events.  ANSA also arranged for actress Gloria Reuben to be the closing speaker at AIDS|SIDA, a UCLA symposium on global AIDS, art, and performance.

In 2008-2009 ANSA has continued to promote the exhibit and related events and activities to our constituency.  ANSA is also helping to bring MA/SA's arts-based curriculum to targeted schools alongside Positively Speaking presenters to teach HIV awareness, prevention, and stigma-reduction.  The goal is to provide a creative, interactive, and comprehensive curriculum that is relevant, interesting, and effective for students.

Condom dress by Brazilian artist Adriena Bertinini