Contagious Love in Kunming

I attended the opening of an art exhibit this weekend. Wow, Nordica is a real art center with a gallery and performance space. I was really impressed. The reception was for Contagious Love, an exhibition about AIDS in China. HIV/AIDS education is really growing in China, but from some of the stories I heard the other night we have a long way to go. HIV/AIDS can be transmitted through sex, yes, but it can also happen by sharing needles. In fact, this is what scares me a lot. Hospitals here have been found to be using dirty needles: China’s dirty needles risk ‘daily’ infection, BBC News, November 2002 - sorry this link is blocked for those of you in China). Anyway, there is a lot of focus on Yunnan Province because the cases of infection are expected to double by 2010.

Here’s an interesting article from The Toronto Star about Bill Gates giving gobs of money to help prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS in China. (It also refers to President Hu Jintao’s recent visits to AIDS patients.)

This exhibit is a great introduction to some of Kunming’s really talented artists. I took photos of a couple of my favorite pieces. Of course I wanted to get more shots, but my little camera clunked out after a while. Anyway, I also got a couple shots of the space as well.

The Contagious Love Exhibition runs through October 12 at Nordica in Kunming, Yunnan. Here are directions to Nordica.