EXHIBITION – Life Interrupted: HIV/AIDS in Africa

4 Feb – 2 March,
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

STAR RATING 3/5

This exhibition documents the social and economic effects of the
spread of HIV/Aids across Africa, writes Mark Drinkwater. 
 


The world-renowned photographer Don McCullin’s stark black and
white stills from South Africa and Zambia are backlit and set in a
darkened room, giving them a mesmerising quality.


 


As well as desperate images of bleak townships, cemeteries and
overstretched health services, there are stories that offer
glimmers of hope from the drug treatments now available.


McCullin first made his name first as a photojournalist during the
Vietnam war.


The notes accompanying the photos concentrate on the effects of
drug treatments, and less about the preventive effects of
education. Some will question Christian Aid’s sponsorship of the
exhibition, as some Christian teachings have in the past condemned
condom use, a few even claiming that Aids was a punishment from
God.


An adjoining room has computer stations with e-mails to Tony Blair
pre-written so that visitors can lobby the government
instantly.



Aside from this being a political campaigning tool, the exhibition
is a powerful way of highlighting the devastating impact of
HIV/Aids.



Mark Drinkwater is a community worker in Southwark come and
play

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