VA & RU Talk: Presentation by Vladimir Čajkovac

A lively discussion happened with Vladimir Čajkovac about the history of AIDS posters and the actions of artists and activists from different countries.

Čajkovac is an independent curator from Zagreb, Croatia, and current researcher of the Visual AIDS archives, who will discuss the current project he is undertaking as a Fellow at the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum in Dresden (Germany). Čajkovac's project, “AIDS as a Global Media Event: An intercultural comparison of posters and their imagery” will examine the history of posters, flyers and actions of artists and activists in regions from 3 different continents, the use of visual language and the social and political conditions leading up to to the creation of this material. Over the past 30 years, the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum has collected the world’s largest collection of AIDS posters with over 9,000 specimens from 100 countries.

During his month long residency co-sponsored by Visual AIDS and Residency Unlimited, Čajkovac used this opportunity to witness and (re)-visit the places where some pivotal events in the AIDS and aids activism history occurred here in New York, and to research how AIDS is still present in the language of the street.

photo credit: Courtesy of DHMD, Dresden