| We raise awareness in the U.S. both about the HIV/AIDS crisis in southern Africa, and about the cultural treasures of Zimbabwean art. |
Few positive headlines about Africa reach the American public through the mass media today. Whatever news does trickle through seems primarily to deal with famine, war, or some health catastrophe.
Modern Zimbabwean art should be celebrated as an African achievement; an independent contribution to world culture; a Modern Art form which, despite all, celebrates life; engaging us irrespective of culture, language, or tradition. Once engaged by the art and the faces of the people who produced it, we believe that Americans will be impressed by the beauty of Zimbabwean culture. This awareness places the catastrophe of the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa in an even more dramatic light.
In Zimbabwe today, out of a population of 11 million (UNAIDS 2001):
• 25% of adults and children are HIV-positive, including 56,000 children under 15 years of age.
• In the last year alone, 160,000 people died from AIDS.
• More than 600,000 children living there today have lost their mother or both parents due to AIDS.
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