BEING & BELONGING: Los Angeles Premiere

Day With(out) Art 2022: BEING & BELONGING

Los Angeles Premiere with Clifford Prince King and Davina Conner

In partnership with MOCA and The Studio Museum in Harlem, Visual AIDS presents Being & Belonging, a program of seven short videos highlighting under-told stories of HIV and AIDS from the perspective of artists living with HIV across the world.

The program features newly commissioned work by Camila Arce (Argentina), Davina “Dee” Conner and Karin Hayes (USA), Jaewon Kim (South Korea), Clifford Prince King (USA), Santiago Lemus and Camilo Acosta Huntertexas (Colombia), Mikiki (Canada), and Jhoel Zempoalteca and La Jerry (México).

From navigating sex and intimacy to confronting stigma and isolation, Being & Belonging centers the emotional realities of living with HIV today. How does living with HIV shift the ways that a person experiences, asks for, or provides love, support, and belonging? The seven videos are a call for belonging from those that have been stigmatized within their communities or left out of mainstream HIV/AIDS narratives.

The Los Angeles premiere of Being & Belonging at MOCA was followed by a conversation with Davina “Dee” Conner and Blake Paskal, Artist Engagement and Community Programs at Visual AIDS. Due to unforeseen circumstances Clifford Prince King was not able to join the conversation, but editor Tasnim Boufelfel spoke on his behalf.

Video Synopses

Camila Arce, Memoria Vertical

Camila Arce presents a poem about the experience of being born with HIV and growing up as part of the first generation with access to antiretroviral medication in South America.

Davina “Dee” Conner and Karin Hayes, Here We Are: Voices of Black Women Who Live with HIV

Davina “Dee” Conner was diagnosed with HIV in 1997. For 18 years she knew no one else who lived with HIV. As she emerged from isolation and internalized stigma, Davina sought to understand the journeys of other Black women living with HIV. Here they are. Listen to their voices.

Jaewon Kim, Nuance

Through an unfolding collection of images,Nuance reflects the thoughts and feelings exchanged between the artist, who is living with HIV, and his HIV-negative partner.

Clifford Prince King, Kiss of Life

In Kiss of Life, four Black people describe their experiences living with HIV. Raw conversations surrounding disclosure, rejection and self love are expressed through visual poetry and dreamscapes.

Santiago Lemus and Camilo Acosta Huntertexas, Los Amarillos

In Colombia, many people living with HIV experience jaundice–the yellowing of the eyes and skin–as a side effect of the low cost antiretroviral drugs supplied by the government. Los Amarillos is an experimental video addressing the alienation and hypervisibility that the artists have faced as a result of this side effect.

Mikiki, Red Flags, a Love Letter

Through a cacophony of limbs, members, and sounds drawn from the party and play scene, Mikiki speaks with other drug users about the possibilities of representing the pleasure of substance use beyond the framework of harm.

Jhoel Zempoalteca and La Jerry, Lxs dxs bichudas

Lxs dxs bichudas offers a poetic dance dialogue in Zapotec and Spanish that explores the ways in which race, gender, and geography shapes the lives and bodies of people living with HIV in Mexico, a country marked by the ideological project of mestizaje.