Art Installation - 8000: The Number of People Who Die of AIDS Everyday

“The governments of the world should be able to see something like this, if this is what it takes to make people see that AIDS is a serious issue, that populations are being wiped out,” says Minneh Kamau, who was present at the inaugural “A Day of AIDS” last year on Salt Spring. “I read the statistics in the paper, and I just thought, oh, 8,000 people. And it didn’t occur to me that those were lots of people until I came and saw these crosses.” Kamau, who has founded an organization called SAN FAN, which aims to prevent HIV/AIDS through education and to empower people through personal storytelling, is a passionate advocate for meaningful action in the face of this global pandemic. “This exhibit is a message that is being spoken by the dead. They are calling back to us … the message is that we must do something.”

“The goal of this installation is to get people to think, and to act,” says SOLID member Gary McNutt. “Our government has made promises to reduce global poverty by half, and to seriously address AIDS by providing universal treatment. These are great goals, but we need to see action. Instead of sticking to his promises to increase Canada’s foreign aid to 0.7% of our GNP, Paul Martin is now saying we can’t afford it. That’s ridiculous – we’re the only country in the G8 that has a budgetary surplus. If we can’t do it, who will?”