World AIDS Day, also called the Day With(out) Art, recognizes the AIDS pandemic and honors those whose lives have been lost to the disease.
In recognition of the day, the U Student Health Center offered free HIV tests for extended hours and the Utah Museum of Fine Arts modified a certain piece in its collection to reflect the grim subject.
The health center normally offers tests every Tuesday and free tests the first Tuesday of every month. The health center will also be offering free tests at the Heritage Center today from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
“It increases access to testing,” said Brad Linn, a prevention coordinator, who was administering the tests on World AIDS Day. It removes barriers. It’s quick and confidential. You get your results in 20 minutes.”
The Queer Student Union also held a discussion panel about HIV/AIDS awareness not only within the gay community, but also outside it. It hosted speakers from the Utah Aids Foundation and the Student Wellness Center.
It’s that demographic that inspired UMFA to recognize World AIDS Day in its own way.
UMFA recognized the day with its Day With(out) Art piece, which is on display. Museum staffers draped a black cloth over a sculpture from Sierra Leone, a Sowei Helmet Mask, to symbolize loss and absence, said Gretchen Dietrich, the UMFA interim director.
The Day With(out) Art tradition was started in 1990 by a group of artists whose colleagues died of AIDS, many of whom were gay. This was a time when the government was ignoring AIDS as an epidemic, Dietrich said. The group first started by shutting down museums around the country each year.
UMFA has been upholding the tradition by choosing to drape the Sierra Leone piece, which is a part of the Africa: Arts of a Continent exhibit. Dietrich said it seemed appropriate to choose the African exhibit to represent how the disease is killing millions in Africa who are unable to get the medical care they need.
