State of Concept Athens is proud to partner with Visual AIDS for Day With(out) Art 2021 by presenting ENDURING CARE, a video program highlighting strategies of community care within the ongoing HIV epidemic. The program is presented in the context of our research platform THE BUREAU OF CARE.

The video program will be screened at 100+ institutions across the world for World AIDS Day, from the 1st of December onwards, among them MOCA (Los Angeles), Brooklyn Museum of Art and The Studio Museum in Harlem .

The screening event will feature newly commissioned work by Katherine Cheairs, Cristóbal Guerra, Danny Kilbride, Abdul-Aliy A. Muhammad and Uriah Bussey, Beto Pérez, Steed Taylor, and J Triangular and the Women’s Video Support Project.

From histories of harm reduction and prison activism to the long-term effects of HIV medication, ENDURING CARE centers stories of collective care, mutual aid, and solidarity while pointing to the negligence of governments and non-profits. The program’s title suggests a dual meaning, honoring the perseverance and commitment of care workers yet also addressing the potential for harm from medications and healthcare providers. ENDURING CARE disrupts the assumption that an epidemic can be solved with pharmaceuticals alone, recasting community work as a lasting form of medicine.

The total duration of the films is one hour and they will be screened on loop from 17:00 until 22:00.

Visual AIDS is a New York-based non-profit that utilizes art to fight AIDS by provoking dialogue, supporting HIV+ artists, and preserving a legacy, because AIDS is not over. In 1989, Visual AIDS organized the first Day Without Art. A committee of art workers (curators, writers, and art professionals) sent out a call for “mourning and action in response to the AIDS crisis” that would celebrate the lives and achievements of lost colleagues and friends; encourage caring for all people with AIDS; educating diverse publics about HIV infection; and finding a cure. The event has been happening ever since.