Southern African Memoryscapes
The Artist as Social Critic and Activist
The Power of Language: Voices and Silences
Cultures of Fear: Crime and Violence
Who we are (students)
Brandeis Anthropology Department
Rose Art Museum
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AIDS/HIV, Art, and Public Memory in South Africa
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Background: AIDS in Southern Africa (by Lauren Amster)
The South African governmentÕs refusal to admit that AIDS is a big problem is not the only reason people are not getting the treatment they need. AIDS can be considered taboo and people with it are often shunned or worse, killed. Gugu Dlamini was stoned to death in 1998 for admitting she had AIDS. Senzeni Marasela pays tribute to Dlamini in a piece entitled "The Invisible Martyr". SenzeniÕs piece consists of five cloths arranged in cruciform. On the outer cloths, "positively frightening" is written with string. The inside cloth says "stoned to death for coming out." SenzeniÕs choice of the words Òcoming outÓ is extremely interesting because it plays on the American idea of a homosexual revealing his or her identity by "coming out of the closet." Senzeni seems to be equating the two because both are situations in which people have been killed for disclosing their true selves, which had been kept secret for fear of being shamed. |
Senzeni Marasela. The Invisible Martyr. |
While HIV and AIDs are challenges faced by all of Africa, South Africa stands out because it has the largest number of affected people in the world.(Note 1) One out of every five South African adults is infected with HIV.( Note 2) With these statistics, it may be surprising that the government is not doing more to help its diseased population or to publicize the dangers. Perhaps one of the reasons for this stems from the African belief in witchcraft as a cause for illness and other misfortune. E.E. Evans Pritchard writes in his article about the Zande belief in witchcraft,"Ò...if, in fact, any failure or misfortune falls upon anyone at any time and in relation to any of the manifold activities of his life it may be due to witchcraft." (Note 3) With such a large number of people in Africa infected with HIV, it may be difficult for the Africans who have traditionally attributed illness to witchcraft, to pinpoint the exact cause of such innumerable sickness. AIDs in Africa is taboo.
An anonymous high-ranking Zimbabwean physician helps to explain the way AIDs is viewed in Africa: "I wrote AIDS on a death certificate and then crossed it out. I thought, 'I'll just be stigmatizing this person, because no one else puts AIDS as the cause of death, even when that's what it is." (Note 4) Ê As we can see, even those well-informed about AIDs have a difficult time getting the problem acknowledged when there is so much stigma that goes along with the disease.
Africa still has a long way to go in its fight against HIV and AIDs. Aside from a lack of money, there is also a lack of knowledge about the disease and ways to get rid of the stigma it carries.
References
1. http://www.avert.org/aafrica.htm
2. ibid 3. E.E. Evans Pritchard. "The Notion of Witchcraft Explains Unfortunate Events." Perspectives on Africa. Blackwell Publishers: Massachusetts, 2000.
4. http://www.villagevoice.com/specials/africa