Twin Arts for the twin
arts of music & dance
Comment from artist Joyce Kohl the coordinator of the project
To Chris (the Editor)-- I am glad that we are getting some dialogue about the AIDS wall. I thought Pip Curling's article was excellent. I had several additional comments in response to the negative article you wrote about the project. I am hoping that people that read your article will suspend judgement until they view it for themselves.
The "Wall" is intended to help open discussion on AIDS issues, and depicts some of artists from Ros Byrne Pottery's courageous interpretations of how AIDS is affecting their communities. It is not intended to be an 'end all' statement on AIDS--we would hope that this project will encourage other artists' interpretations. Nor is the intention to fill the same role as the AIDS quilt; Pip Curling did a beautiful job at explaining the differences between the situations in the U.S. and here. I think however, that it would be great if someone started an AIDS quilt here.
I'm sorry that all your associations with tiles are so negative--I don't think other people necessarily share those associations--my own include the tile work of Venice Catherdrals and Gaudi's work in Barcelona.
Top of the bench/box
Children from the Emerald Hill Childrens Home next to their tiled box.
From your article, it doesn't appear that you understand (at least initially) that the bench tiles were done by children, many of whose lives have been touched directly by AIDS. Often children are more direct than adults. One boy simply states"AIDS you took my mother and father. I miss them". Other children drewpictures of people being cared for, or wrote very articulate poems. I did not have access to the same imported underglazes in working with the children that the factory workers had, but their statements come from the heart. The function of the bench is to to help create a place where people can stop and reflect, since the crisis has been so overwhelming that people have had little time to reflect on the loss.
We chose a site close to the path so that people walking through the park (not attending the National Gallery) would see it. The photo you sent of the bench did not clearly depict the children's work; in fact the main purpose of your photos seemed to be used to illustrate your negative points, not to clearly depict the wall. In evaluating the intention of the project to help "break the silence", by the reactions I've heard (including parents discussing issues of AIDS with their children in front of the wall), this is being accomplished.
The gallery personnel, vendors and stage manager from the Theatre in the Park who spend a good deal of time by the wall have said they hear an incredible number of discussions generated by the wall. The visual arts audience includes people who either can't or don't read. We have been approached by people interested in duplicating images from the wall for education in schools. The hope is that by breaking the silence we can stop some of the negative cycles. I recommend that you to return to the wall at a quieter time than the opening, and take the time to appreciate the drawings and to read some of the children's poems. Listen to and watch the reactions of the people walking through the park as their attention is captivated by the 'Wall'.
Joyce Kohl Visiting Professor University of Zimbabwe Department of Theatre Arts