Turning On AIDS 2014 at Arts Centre Melbourne Set for 7/18-21

Arts Centre Melbourne's Hamer Hall will be lit up nightly from Friday July 18-21 with a series of unique digital art projections putting the spotlight on creating an HIV-free generation. Titled Honouring the Past, Hope for the Future: Towards an HIV Free Generation this sophisticated and symbolic public art installation marks the beginning of the 20th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2014) being hosted in Melbourne July 20-25.

YEAH (Youth Empowerment Against HIV/AIDS) in partnership with the City of Melbourne are proud to showcase projected images of new works created to reflect the theme of Hope for the Future, produced by artists from Melbourne and her six sister cities: Thessaloniki, St. Petersburg, Osaka, Tianjin, Boston and Milan. The works also incorporate images from the Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt and quotes from international leaders including President Barack Obama and Executive Director of UNAIDS Michel Sidibe, on their vision of an HIV-free generation

The installation reflects a key emerging theme in the global AIDS response; the idea of moving forward towards the end of HIV infections and creating the first HIV-free generation since the global pandemic began in the early 1980s.Together with a one-story high red AIDS 2014 sign installed across the length of Princes Bridge, YEAH hopes the installations will act as a visual reminder and catalyst for community engagement with the Australian campaign for youth led education & prevention - RedAware.org.au

During the 20th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2014), Status, a theatre production containing real-life stories of HIV stigma, will also be staged at Arts Centre Melbourne's Fairfax Studio from 23-27 July. In the 65-minute show, Status explores HIV in 2014 and the stigma faced daily through HIV disclosure, dating, working and living a healthy, well-balanced life. The work is a culmination of interviews with HIV positive men and women, friends, lovers, family, medical professionals and carers and aims to reignite the discussion around HIV stigma in modern society. This uplifting, positive and emotional piece will hopefully reignite a long forgotten conversation. STATUS is an affiliated independent event of the International Conference AIDS 2014.