The participating artists have donated 35 paintings and graphic works for the exhibition. All proceeds from the sale will be provided to help children with HIV living in the Lomonosov Children’s Home in Leningrad oblast.

 

By participating in this event, the artists have chosen to speak out about the problem of HIV/AIDS in order to help people overcome their prejudices and misconceptions about HIV/AIDS and to provide assistance to children with HIV.

 

Galina Bystritskaya. Lillies in the Porcelain Vase.

 

There are about 440,000 cases of HIV infection officially registered in Russia today. However, many Russian and international specialists believe that the actual number of people living with HIV in the country might be about one million. Injecting drug users are the group most affected by HIV/AIDS, but infections among women are also increasing.

 

 
Andrian Gorlanov. Thaw

 

In 2007, women accounted for 44 percent of all new HIV cases. There has been a corresponding increase in the number of children born to HIV-positive women. Modern therapies have been able to reduce to a minimum the risk of HIV transmission at birth, and today the overwhelming majority of HIV-positive women in Russia receive this therapy during pregnancy. However, there are about three thousand children who were infected at birth in Russia today. Many of these children were given up for adoption and now live in orphanages, deprived of a family’s warmth and comfort.

The exhibition will be held from November 11-20, 2008.

 

The opening will be held on November 11 at 5PM in Hall 10.

 

For additional press information and accreditation, contact chernyakhovskaya@unaids.org, yana.ivanchenko@gmail.com

Tel: 495 232 5599, 8 916 248 9512