Press Release: “Lost & Found: Safer Sex Activism”
CONTACT: Steve Valentine, Valentine Group L.A.
steve@ValentineGroupLA.com
Jennifer Gregg, ONE Archives Foundation, Inc.
Executive Director, jgregg@ONEArchives.org[1][2]
Historical LGBTQ Art and Objects to be Showcased in Lost & Found: Safer Sex Activism at West Hollywood’s ONE Gallery, located at 626 North Robertson Boulevard
Exhibition on display from March 17, 2018 – June 24, 2018
Opening Reception: Saturday, March 17, 2018 | 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
West Hollywood, CA — The ONE Archives Foundation, Inc. is pleased to announce Lost & Found: Safer Sex Activism, the inaugural exhibition at the newly renovated ONE Gallery in West Hollywood. The exhibition examines thirty years of compelling safer sex and harm-reduction activism, then and now.
The ONE Archives Foundation, Inc. has meticulously assembled groundbreaking visual examples of safer sex activism. While at the height of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s and 1990s widespread public perception linked AIDS to gay men and intravenous drug users, Lost & Found reveals how activists sought to educate varying publics about the pervasive epidemic. The exhibition will provoke viewers: What impact did safer sex activism have in the past and what is its impact today on HIV prevention?
While many believe that HIV/AIDS is no longer a contemporary issue, HIV-infection continues to be prevalent in 2018, especially within communities of color. Lost & Found seeks to remember safer sex activism of the past, calling attention not only to extraordinary lives and voices that have been lost, but to knowledge and resources that have been found — which can again inspire, inform, educate, and empower the public.
Using direct, playful, witty, and creative tactics, safer sex activists sought to reach diverse audiences, including gay men, women, transgender individuals, and people of color. Rather than stigmatize sexuality, these educational projects often went hand-in-hand with sex positive practices. The exhibition includes posters, comics, brochures, videos, PSAs, and safer sex and clean needle kits, among other archival items. These novel and accessible forms reveal how activists and educators sought to disseminate information across cultural, economic, linguistic, and class divisions.