You are invited to an artists' reception: Monday, August 20th, 6 to 8 p.m. at Bioscrip Pharmacy 2262 Market Street/near Noe, San Francisco.

These digital images are emotional glimpses into the everyday lives of Asian & Pacific Islanders (A&PIs) living with HIV or AIDS, visual diaries that chronicle bittersweet, contemplative and humorous domestic moments. Images captured through a camera lens offer the viewer a chance to see the world from the photographer’s perspective. Only one of the photographers is a professional artist, but each participant was trained to develop a visual vocabulary and produced these images through the Banyan Tree Project, led by the Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center (A&PI Wellness Center) in San Francisco. The Banyan Tree Project is a national campaign to stop HIV/AIDS-related stigma in A&PI communities.

This exhibition was organized and mounted by Visual Aid, an organization that encourages artists with life-threatening illnesses to continue their creative work, and promotes dialogue around illness and art. First shown by A&PI Wellness
Center in a day-long exhibition on National A&PI HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (May 19th), Visual Aid partnered with the A&PI Wellness Center for this second exhibition, to present these works to an expanded audience, and promote outreach, education and acceptance.

Often considered a “model minority” in terms of health, education and economic status, Asians & Pacific Islanders may actually be undermined by cultural traditions of silence and discrimination surrounding the subject of HIV/AIDS within their communities. A sense of taboo and shame surrounding discussion of sexual issues and drug use leaves many A&PIs vulnerable to HIV risk factors. A&PIs living with HIV or AIDS and those who are most at-risk may fear disappointing family expectations, or even wonder if they deserve to be healthy.

A&PIs comprise more than 40 different ethnic groups and communicate in over 100 languages and dialects. Yet the rich diversity of these communities also presents particular challenges in confronting HIV/AIDs in the 21st century. For example, most programs and literature involving HIV awareness lack the cultural and linguistic competency needed to reach A&PI communities.

For more information, visit www.banyantreeeproject.org and www.visualaid.org.

LenScape, part of a continuing series of Visual Aid exhibitions, is sponsored by Bioscrip Pharmacy, and supported by Grants for the Arts of the San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund.