Promoting protection and prevention against the spread of HIV and AIDS at the 21st International AIDS Conference 2016 in Durban last week, students from the University of Johannesburg (UJ) encouraged people to fight the scourge of HIV and AIDS through a visual art exhibition.

The students were exhibiting the visuals in conjunction with UJ’s Institutional Office for HIV and AIDS (IOHA).

Captured in different graphics and visuals to highlight curriculum integration at UJ, the 15 second year students in the Department of Fashion Design, Department of Graphic Design, Department of Visual Art, Department of Interior Design, Department of Multimedia, Department of Jewellery Design and Manufacture from the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture (FADA), all highlighted the importance of condomising during sexual encounters, and getting tested. The messages were clear: using active youth voices in the visuals, they tell everyday life stories that promote safe sex and discourage transactional sexual relationships.

WATCH the exhibition video below.

Amongst the esteemed delegates at the conference including His Royal Highness Prince Harry and South Africa’s Health Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi was internationally renowned South African actress, Charlize Theron, who gave an impassioned speech that was featured on most of South Africa’s radio stations and television bulletins.

Charlize Theron: “The real reason we haven’t beaten the epidemic boils down to one simple fact: We value some lives more than others. We value men more than women. Straight love more than gay love. White skin more than black skin. The rich more than the poor. Adults more than adolescents. I know this because AIDS does not discriminate on its own. It has no biological preference for black bodies, for women’s bodies, for gay bodies, for youth or for the poor. It doesn’t single out the vulnerable, the oppressed, or the abused. We single out the vulnerable, the oppressed, and the abused. We ignore them. We let them suffer. And then, We leave them to die.”