***Image: San Francisco AIDS Foundation safer sex poster, 1992. Poster, 18 x 39 inches. Photography by Michele Clement. Design by Scott Sidorsky. ONE Poster Collection. ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at the USC Libraries.
When: March 17th from 5 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Where: ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, 909 W Adams Blvd, Los Angeles
Details: Lost & Found: Safer Sex Activism examines thirty years of inspiring and defiant safer sex and harm-reduction activism. The exhibition presents safer sex posters, comics, brochures, videos, PSAs, and safer sex and clean needle kits, among other archival items, all from the collections at ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at USC Libraries.
While at the height of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s and 1990s widespread public perception linked AIDS to gay men and intravenous drug users, Lost & Found reveals how activists sought to educate and empower varying publics about the pervasive epidemic. Rather than stigmatize sexuality, these educational projects often went hand-in-hand with sex positive practices. Utilizing novel and accessible forms, Lost & Found shows how the dissemination of information sought to cross cultural, economic, linguistic, and class divisions. While the majority of materials were produced in the 1980s and 1990s, the exhibition connects these histories to the ongoing AIDS crisis through contemporary artists and activist projects.
Lost & Found: Safer Sex Activism is co-curated by David Evans Frantz, curator at ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at the USC Libraries, and independent curator Hannah Grossman, with support from exhibition consultant Neal Baer, M.D. Lost & Found is organized by the ONE Archives Foundation. Generous support is provided by The Calamus Foundation of New York, Inc. and the City of West Hollywood.
