INFORMATION FOR

In order to raise community awareness of the impact of AIDS and HIV on Black communities domestically and abroad and to inspire action, the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture (MLWC) in the Division of Student Affairs is observing this year’s World AIDS Day with a "Day Without Art" exhibit.

Prominent pieces of the center's artwork will be draped in black and will instead display detailed information regarding the impact of AIDS/HIV on Black communities and local resource information. The exhibit will be installed in the MLWC reception area and in Abele Hall from Friday Dec. 1,  through Thursday, December 7.

The first national Day Without Art (DWA) was held on Dec. 1, 1989, in conjunction with the World Health Organization's AIDS Awareness Day (Dec. 1) as a nationwide day of action and mourning in response to the AIDS crisis. Some 800 U.S. art and AIDS groups participated in the first Day Without Art, shutting down museums, sending staff to volunteer at AIDS services, or sponsoring special exhibitions of work about AIDS.

Since 1989, DWA has evolved into a comprehensive and collaborative effort to increase public awareness and inspire positive action. An estimated 8,000 national and international museums, galleries, art centers, AIDS Service Organizations, libraries, high schools and colleges take part in sponsoring such events as public actions, exhibits produced by artists living with HIV/AIDS, or dealing with HIV/AIDS subject matter, and other cultural events that draw attention to the continuing pandemic.

Current estimates are that of the nearly 40 million cases of HIV worldwide, 63 percent can be found in sub-Saharan Africa. In the U.S., Blacks make up just 13 percent of the population, yet the CDC estimates that they account for at least 45 percent of AIDS/HIV cases nationwide. Current data provided by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services indicate that of the nearly 19,000 reported cases of HIV/AIDS in North Carolina, over 3,200 reside in the Triangle area, with Durham ranking 4th in the state for number of reported cases. In North Carolina Blacks comprise 63 percent of the reported cases with Black men being the most at risk (comprising nearly 50 percent of the cases statewide.)

For more information, call 684-7472.