A Day of AIDS

A Day of AIDS is a public art event that brings the urgency of AIDS home. A field of 8,000 crosses, arranged in the shape of a red AIDS ribbon surrounded by white crosses, confronts visitors with the dramatic and tragic scale of AIDS.

Why 8,000?

This is one cross for every person who will die from AIDS, every day.

This moving tribute is a powerful way to connect communities in the fight against AIDS and to mobilize support for initiatives that address AIDS and poverty.

Currently touring universities and colleges on Vancouver Island, “A Day of AIDS” is proving to be a powerful focal point to bring awareness and spur action on the issues surrounding AIDS. SOLID is calling on community groups across Canada to make their own “A Day of AIDS” installations. Organizations with a focus on global issues, AIDS, health, poverty and gender equality are invited to participate in this national campaign.

An innovative public engagement project entitled: Cross Canada – Community Action for Aids, a partnership initiative between VIDEA, SOLID (Saltspring Organisation for Life Improvement and Development) and ICAD (Inter-Agency Coalition on AIDS and Development), will engage eight communities from Victoria to St. John’s in a combination of partnership building, public engagement, community and educational outreach with a unique public art installation in solidarity with the upcoming 2006 International AIDS Conference in Toronto.

“ A Day of AIDS ” is a large scale public art installation that makes an unforgettable statement about the crisis of AIDS and passionately encourages viewers to get informed, get involved, take action, donate, and volunteer to stop the pandemic. It provides an opportunity for community based organizations to become involved in a national public education campaign through public art, linking these grassroots community organizations together into a national network of like-minded and determined groups who can share skills and resources-community to community across the country.