The overall goal of MAKE ART/STOP AIDS– Africa is to educate, mobilize, inspire, and encourage dialogue through arts interventions in African universities and in rural and urban poor communities throughout the South-East Africa region. The program relies on collaborative relationships with local, regional, and international organizations operating in each project country. Partners include: The UCLA Program in Global Health, University of Malawi’s Chancellor College, and the Drama for Life program. MASA – Africa comprises the following project components:

1. This is My Story is a theater-based stigma-reduction intervention incorporating live performance by teams of students, popular artists, and local People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). The experience begins with an intensive workshop, during which participants share personal stories and experiences, with a focus on issues of HIV/AIDS. They work together to create a performance piece to be staged on university campuses and in urban and rural communities in the host country. Where appropriate, interventions are complemented by HIV services such as Voluntary Testing and Counseling (VCT) and complementary educational activities.

2. Not Alone is a visual arts collection showcasing the role of the arts in fighting the AIDS epidemic globally. It was inaugurated in Los Angeles under the title MAKE ART/STOP AIDS. It is currently on display in Durban, South Africa, in a streamlined and adapted form, with future showings in Johannesburg, and Cape Town through January 2010. Iconic works include: Daniel Goldstein and John Kapellas’s Medicine Man made entirely of pill bottles, Adriana Bertini’s condom dresses, Thukral and Tagra’s flip-flops, among others.

3. MAKE ART/STOP AIDS is a course in arts-based AIDS interventions that was first developed at the University of California– Los Angeles (UCLA). During a long-term university-based residency at Chancellor College in Zomba, Malawi—sister institution to UCLA—project director Dr. Galia Boneh is developing and adapting the principles of MAKE ART/STOP AIDS to the specific national context of her host country, teaching MASA courses and workshops to local students. The course engages students in relevant readings and discussions on the challenges of HIV/AIDS in Africa and Malawi in particular, and in the design and implementation of small-scale art interventions on campus and in surrounding communities.

4. AMP it up! Africa brings together the full array of possibilities in a comprehensive Arts-based, Multiple-intervention, Peer-education model for HIV education. The model, recently piloted in Los Angeles (2006-08), was considered so promising that it is now being planned for Los Angeles and Zomba, Malawi, simultaneously, with a parallel research project designed to evaluate the efficacy of the AMP it up! approach. The model includes classroom health education, interaction and collaboration with PLWHA, viewing of an art exhibition (a mobile version of Not Alone), a live performance, and a participatory arts-based AIDS curriculum resulting in student performances and displays. HIV services such as VCT will complement the interventions.

5. Through Positive Eyes is a pioneering participatory photography project directed by Gideon Mendel, aimed at reducing stigma and addressing treatment inequalities around the world. We have completed project incarnations in Los Angeles, Mexico City, and Brazil. In February 2010, Through Positive Eyes will travel to Durban, South Africa, the country with the highest number of HIV infections in the world. The project will address issues of access to treatment and prevention of mother to child transmission, which are of immense importance in combating the disease’s impact in the region.

6. The Drama for Life Festival is a two-week event that provides an opportunity for those working in the field of HIV and AIDS to network, share experiences, and exchange knowledge. Joining artists, researchers, development workers, trainers, theater, music, art, dance, and health practitioners, the festival seeks to find creative and innovative ways of addressing HIV and AIDS through workshops, performances, and exhibitions. It seeks to inspire communities, introducing contemporary processes while paying respect to the rich indigenous traditions that belong to Africa.