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London-based

Art

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AIDS International

is making a difference in the lives of African women and children

By Jesse Reynolds Imagine living in a world where food, shelter, medicine and education are rarely accessible ? a world where safe sex is all but a myth, and one in five people are helplessly dying of a disease with no cure. Sub-Saharan Africa is that world, but a nonprofit organization in London ? equipped with a new downtown art gallery ? is hoping to make a difference. Art

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AIDS International is an organization focused on raising AIDS awareness worldwide. They sell limited-edition prints of collages made by students in Canada and Africa to raise money for women and children affected by AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa. The collages are made at workshops held at dozens of schools in Canada and Africa. Julie Casey participated in one of the local workshops as a Fanshawe College student. Her collages have been some of the most popular. Casey had been interested in oil painting and pastels before the workshop, but found a new love in collage-making. ?I love it on two levels,? she says. ?It?s a nice clean art form, and you can do it quickly.? A mother of two, she also has a sense of personal attachment to the cause. ?I love the idea that [the money] goes to African women. It?s a horrible situation, but this makes something good of it,? she says. ?They?re able to be housed, educated, clothed, and treated.? The women of Sub-Saharan Africa have been Casey?s inspiration. She created a set of collages representing women around the world. Some of her works are focused on female eyes ? something she attributes to their power. ?I think eyes tell all. They capture sorrow and happiness. Once you see something, there?s no turning away.? Casey is happy that her work has been popular. Now a financial advisor, she hopes to make more collages in the future. She is proud that something so important started in London. ?I really like that it?s local. Who would have thought that something this big would start here?? Art

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AIDS International was founded by London artist Hendrikus Bervoets, with help from others, after a life-changing night in the year 2000. At an art exhibition in Lucan, Ontario, the High Commissioner of South Africa, Andre Jacquet, spoke with Hendrikus. He explained that though South Africa had won political change against apartheid, they were losing the battle against HIV/AIDS. One in five South Africans is HIV positive, and very few of them will receive anti-viral treatment. ?In reality, everybody else will die. And [the problem] is not only in South Africa,? says Hendrikus. ?It?s disastrous; it?s killing more people than anything else.? After focussing on his art for much of his life, Hendrikus was shocked at the reality of Sub-Saharan Africa. ?It opened my A print by London artist Julie Casey, on sale at Art

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AIDS Gallery). eyes, telling me that there was a world where people were simply dying of AIDS; where people did not have sufficient education and were living with terrible malnutrition, and more importantly, where anti-viral drugs were not readily available,? he says. ?I guess it was my time.? Hendrikus went to South Africa to see first-hand what AIDS was all about. He attended an AIDS conference in South Africa, visiting townships and hospitals along the way. Once the reality set in, he knew what he had to do. ?It simply became a passion from there on.? Art

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AIDS was officially recognized by the Canadian government as a nonprofit organization in 2001. Since then, much has happened. Young artists from recent workshops in Manica, Mozambique and (centre) London artist Hendrikus Bervoets at Swartkop School in South Africa. 50 | CITYWOMAN ISSUE THREE: MARCH 2009 www.citywoman.ca

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