World AIDS Day

Until There’s A Cure Bracelet photographed exclusively for A&U Magazine—America’s AIDS Magazine

World AIDS Day 2019

World AIDS Day falls on December 1, an important day for me, personally, for a couple of other reasons. And for those reasons, this year’s WAD was in particular a tough day for me. But, as they say, “the show must go on.”

Therefore, I spent WAD 2019 lighting candles, remembering loved ones, and remembering Mom.

“Light My Candle” Photo by Alina Oswald.

Also, remembering last year’s December 1, and the opening night of Kurt Weston‘s photography show, REMEMBER: An AIDS Retrospective.

With activists Terry Roberts and Kurt Weston at the opening of Weston's show, Remember: An AIDS Retrospective, WAD 2018, at OCCCA
On World AIDS Day 2018, award-winning photographer Kurt Weston invited me to participate in a panel discussion on the opening night of his show Remember: An AIDS Retrospective at Orange County Center of Contemporary Art.
At Kurt Weston's photography show, Remember: An AIDS Retrospective
World AIDS Day 2018 – opening night, at Kurt Weston’s show, Remember: An AIDS Retrospective, at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art. Photo by Alina Oswald.

Wearing the bracelet, and not only on World AIDS Day:

Until There’s A Cure Bracelet photographed exclusively for A&U Magazine—America’s AIDS Magazine

And thinking of other related artwork, and the Undetectable flash collective I’m so humbled and honored to be a part of:

Visual Impact: On Art, AIDS, and Activism, a public art installation displaying eight symbolic AIDS activist artworks, including my favorites, Undetectable and in particular Silence = Death. Photo by Alina Oswald.
Visual Impact: On Art, AIDS, and Activism, a public art installation displaying eight symbolic AIDS activist artworks, including my favorites, Undetectable and in particular Silence = Death. Photo by Alina Oswald.
The Undetectable Flash Collective. 2014.

While thinking of some of the inspiring HIV/AIDS activists I’ve covered this year:

And also throughout the years:

And many others….

And so, this December 1 I thought of personal loss, and of a more universal loss caused by the AIDS epidemic, and wondered about hope…or as author and activist Joel Rothschild calls it, “the very fine line between disaster and triumph, called hope.”

NYC AIDS Memorial. Shadows. Photo by Alina Oswald.
NYC AIDS Memorial. Shadows. Photo by Alina Oswald.

So, this December 1 and throughout the last month of this year, I wish you hope, and, as always, thank you for stopping by.

Alina Oswald

Also, to learn more about World AIDS Day, feel free to check out the following articles published in A&U Magazine–America’s AIDS Magazine, one written by yours truly, and others that included my thoughts on World AIDS Day:

What Does World AIDS Day Mean to You

A World AIDS Day Gallery by Chael Needle, A&U Managing Editor

Reading Names on World AIDS Day, Frontdesk by David Waggoner, A&U Publisher, and Editor-in-Chief

2 Comments

  1. Feel this quote so deep…If they were alive today,they’d still be living with AIDS.How sad that today there is still no effective cure for this illness.Hope one day,medical research will be productive enough.Meanwhile,big support to those living with aids and their relatives also.

    Like

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