ACT to Host AIDS Awareness Week Photo Exhibition
TORONTO, November 13, 2006 — During AIDS Awareness Week 2006, the AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT) will host Every Week Is AIDS Awareness Week, an exhibition of photographs by people living with HIV/AIDS (PHAs) at 399 Church Street, fourth floor. The exhibition features photo essays shot and curated by a diverse group of HIV-positive ACT clients and volunteers to reflect a week in their lives.
"What many people don't realize is that HIV/AIDS affects every person differently — physically, socially, and spiritually. You can appreciate this as fact, but to really understand it you would need to be privy to the very personal experiences of people living with HIV/AIDS," says Tyler Stiem, ACT's Communications Coordinator.
"The idea behind the Every Week Is AIDS Awareness Week project is to empower PHAs from different backgrounds — women, gay and bisexual men, newcomers from Africa, the street-involved, long-term survivors, youth — to tell their stories. By so generously opening windows into their lives, they will be educating the public, AIDS service providers like ACT, and other PHAs."
There are over 15,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Toronto. Since the late 1990s, the demographics of HIV infection in Toronto and Ontario have shifted. Gay and bisexual men still comprise the largest group of new HIV diagnoses, while women and people from Africa and the Caribbean are the fastest growing groups, accounting for 25% and 18% of new diagnoses in Toronto in 2004.
The Every Week Is AIDS Awareness Week exhibition is free, and runs Nov. 27 - Dec. 1, culminating with a reception on Nov. 30, 5 – 8 p.m.
The photo exhibit has now been extended to Friday, December 8, 2006.
