The Agnes Etherington Art Centre’s Hotline exhibition encompasses decades of HIV/AIDs activism in one room.
Located in the Agnes’ new space at the Rideau Building, the exhibit’s curated by Queen’s Archivist Heather Home, and Agnes curator Alicia Boutelier. Running from Nov. 21 to Jan. 18, the exhibit features 42 HIV/AIDs awareness posters, selected from the 500 donated to Queen’s University Archives by Trellis HIV & Community Care. At its core, the exhibit aims to educate its visitors on the spread of AIDs through a medium objective, bringing attention to Canada’s rise in cases, and sharing Kingston and Queen’s longstanding history of solidarity with HIV/AIDs victims.
“Heather Home approached me about the possibility of doing this exhibition. I thought it was an incredible idea for a show because the arts and HIV activism have always [gone] hand-in-hand.” Boutelier said in an interview with The Journal.
A minimal space gets filled by artwork adorning its walls: expertly designed posters are educative yet aesthetically pleasing. Some posters display nudity or overt sexuality, seeming less like educational tools upon first glance, but ultimately being effective by normalizing imagery of queer sexuality. When taken in the context of history, it’s interesting to consider how these works did, at the time of their use, raise awareness about the AIDs epidemic.
The objectivity of posters as an art form limits interpretation, allowing curators to do what they sought to with the exhibition: raise awareness of HIV/AIDs.
“Now seemed like a really good time [for this exhibition] because there’s been [an] increase [in] AIDs infection rates in Canada. 2023 showed the first increase in a significant period of time,” Home said.
“[People think] ‘Oh this craziness is over’; there’s a lot of medication, a lot of ways to [mitigate] the infection, but seeing that the numbers are rising, the crisis isn’t necessarily over,” Home said.
The posters were donated by Trellis HIV & Community Care, formerly known as the Kingston AIDS Project (KAP), founded in 1988 to provide HIV/AIDS education and support to the Kingston area. The organization later became the HIV/AIDS Regional Services (HARS) in 1992, before getting its current name in 2022. The donation was made to Queen’s to document and support the region’s queer histories and communities. They range from local, Kingston-made works to posters from across Canada, and even around the world.
When discussing the inclusion of international posters, Boutelier explained that, “One of the question we [keep] getting is ‘why are there so many German posters?’; these were collected in different ways by Trellis to become a research collective for them to make their own posters and communications; whether it’s condom covers, pamphlets, or posters.”
“There is an evolution [in how the posters are presented,” Home said. The posters, ranging from the ’80s to the 2000’s show us how the way HIV was talked about changed over time. the earlier posters explore HIV awareness more covertly, through cartoons and animations. Over time, the posters are more overt, showing queer couples and condoms, some even showing explicit nudity.
The informative space curated with passion invites you to slow down and learn about stories of the past through the posters. It feels like an easily accessible history lesson that’s easy to follow along.
Having free access to global viewpoints on the AIDS epidemic gives us a change to reflect on the lives, activism, and cultural shifts that shaped public understanding.
Tags
Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Art Exhibition, Awareness, exhibition, HIV/AIDS, HOTLINE, Impact, posters, Visual art
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natasha smirminoff
insightful!