Wolfsonian-FIU presents ‘Graphic Intervention: 25 Years of International AIDS Awareness Posters 1985–2010’

At the beginning of the 1980s various reports began to emerge in California and New York of a small number of men who had been diagnosed with rare forms of cancer or pneumonia. The men were young and had previously been in relatively good health. The only other characteristic that connected them was that they were all gay.

In 1982, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that an average of one to two cases were being diagnosed in the United States every day, and for the first time the CDC used the term AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) to describe what ailed them.

As health officials worked to inform the public of the emerging HIV/AIDS epidemic, the poster, which was easy and inexpensive to produce, played a special role in promoting awareness and safe sex practices around the world. Wolfsonian-FIU board member Henry S. Hacker recently acquired for the museum more than 3,600 AIDS-themed posters from more than 80 countries, produced between 1985 and 2010.

To mark this major gift, the Wolfsonian–FIU is exhibiting “Graphic Intervention: 25 Years of International AIDS Awareness Posters 1985–2010” through Sept. 9.

“Graphic Intervention” examines the wide variety of aims, techniques, and strategies used in response to the health crisis. Produced by government agencies and grassroots organizations in more than 40 countries, the 153 posters on exhibit draw upon images from popular culture and express deep-rooted social and moral values and cultural differences regarding sexuality, sexual practices, drug use, health and hygiene.

“The images that circulated in western Europe and the United States really had to compete in a very saturated, commercial and visual landscape. They had to compete with advertising,” says Marianne Lamonaca, associate director of curatorial affairs and education, of the design strategies used in the posters. “While other images in this collection produced for rural areas in… India, for instance, they didn’t have to carry that slick commercial graphic strategy.

“In these posters you see something that is very specific to the social, cultural context for which the poster was being made.”

Cathy Leff, director of the Wolfsonian, says that although this exhibition falls outside the museum’s traditional collection interest – late 19th Century to mid 20th Century design, it focuses on public health, which is a strength of the Wolfsonian’s permanent collection.

To show how the AIDS-themed posters tie into the museum’s collection, there is a gallery in the exhibition dedicated to historical works, previously held by the museum, used in the early part of the 20th Century to promote awareness of other sexually transmitted diseases.

“We are really excited about this gift because of the work being done at our university in the disciplines of public health and in medicine,” Leff says. “The Wolfsonian has a strong collection that can support the understanding of how design was used and is a tool in promoting awareness about public health.”

The Wolfsonian’s exhibition will be on display as world leaders come together in Washington D.C. at the 19th International AIDS Conference July 22-27. Former President Bill Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé, Nobel Laureate Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, among others will evaluate recent scientific developments, lessons learned and collectively chart a course forward.

“Graphic Intervention”  is organized by Elizabeth Resnick and Javier Cortés in collaboration with James Lapides, International Poster Gallery, Boston, and Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston.