Empower: Youth, Arts and Activism - CATIE

Why do you do this work?I do this work to meet the very fundamentalneed of fighting stigma. It presses me to voicemy concerns when from a social perspectivethere is a lot of ignorance and discriminationwhen it comes to HIV/AIDS. For example, myinterests include debunking the following myths:the belief that the HIV/AIDS movement receivestoo much funding compared to other diseases,the misconception that we have alreadydiscovered the cure or vaccine, the outrightprejudice that HIV/AIDS is only a homosexualissue and lastly, ignorance that HIV/AIDS is inremission when it is in fact still a pandemic.Why Art?What I love about art is that it is a verycommon medium that we share with everyone.Absolutely everyone has the ability to makeart and that is why I love to use it as a tool forcommunication. I think it touches each personon a basic almost instinctual level, like music,whether they agree to like it or not.Do you have any suggestions or tips for youthwho are interested in pursuing or alreadyworking on HIV/AIDS arts activism?The greatest tip I can give to any youth is tonot lose perspective when it comes to themovement and to keep pursuing the truthand the facts with regards to the HIV/AIDSissue. That is to say, try not to be sidetrackedby any movement whether political, social, orscientific. This is an issue that is going to bearound for the long haul and it is importantthat time be taken periodically to re-evaluatethe facts: How far have we come? Where arewe on the timeline? What are the issues to beaddressed at present, in the immediate future,and in the long run?BIOJennifer Yee is currently a fourth yearundergraduate student at the University ofToronto studying Human Biology, Zoology &Visual Studies. She is also employed by theCentre for Addiction & Mental Health (CAMH)as a Research Assistant. Jennifer’s work wouldbest be described as a study in the humanform, both body and mind. She is concernedwith issues of stigma, perception, healthand disease. Visual art techniques includeprintmaking (intaglio), drawing and paintingwith emphasis on mixed media. She hopesto pursue post-graduate work in biomedicalcommunications or research.Glossary“Cosmopolitan”Cosmopolitan means worldly. In the contextof this feature, this is a critique of the way inwhich AIDS is taken up as a global industry.For example, in Canada, the AIDS Ribbon nolonger has the same significance as it used to,just as other awareness campaigns aimed atconsumers sacrifice political power for brandpower. Does a ribbon on a Starbucks cup or onan iPod help decrease the impact of AIDS?37