ArtAids fights AIDS, with the substantive and monetary power of art as its most important weapons. ArtAids invites leading artists to produce work that is inspired by AIDS and related problems. These works of art are used not only to raise the public’s consciousness and to encourage their involvement, but also to generate funds for supporting projects throughout the world that are aimed at preventing and fighting AIDS. 

ArtAids was set up by the Dutch writer and art collector Han Nefkens. When Nefkens learned that he was infected with HIV in 1987, this brought about a radical change in his life. He came to realize that he was living in injury time; each moment is important to him. Han Nefkens sees the intensity of that experience reflected in the world of art. For this reason he has decided to use art to increase involvement in the AIDS problem so that real contributions can be made to creating a better existence for people living with HIV.

ArtAids Board
Han Nefkens - chairman
Joep Lange
Onno Schellekens
Hilde Teerlinck
Jacqueline van Tongeren

Website ArtAids
www.artaids.com

Contact ArtAids
info@artaids.com

Han Nefkens’ art collection
www.hfcollection.org

Moscow Project - Presentation: Amsterdam 2008
At the International AIDS Conference in Bangkok in 2004, Han Nefkens bought a number of dresses from the Brazilian designer Adriana Bertini. ArtAids commissioned the Dutch artists Martine Stig and Vivianne Sassen to photograph the dresses, which are made of rejected condoms. Stig and Sassen went to Moscow to find young women who would be willing to model the condom dresses. The search for Moscow ‘Cinderellas’ resulted in five photo sessions that provide a picture of the different youth cultures in the Russian capital today. As the latex of the original dresses slowly disintegrates, the photos continue to draw attention to HIV and to remind people of the taboos surrounding AIDS in Russia.

‘Stigma’ photos by Juul Hondius - 2007
In 2006, Han Nefkens asked the Dutch photographer Juul Hondius to produce a work for ArtAids based on the theme ‘stigma’. The three resulting photos, shot in South-Africa, were first presented at the exhibition ‘Choix d'artistes’ at the Institut N?erlandais in Paris in 2007. The first prints are now part of the H+F Collection - ArtAids shares in the proceeds of the sale of the remaining prints.

Leo Copers at UNAIDS - Geneva from 2006
The Art for Aids collection in the UNAIDS building in Geneva, inaugurated in 2006, holds a 13-part mixed media work by the Belgian artist Leo Copers, which has been lent by ArtAids. The work exists of gilded covers which can be taken off with white gloves to reveal recycled framed Redout? prints of roses and infected human blood.
Proceeds from the sale of this work will enable ArtAids to contribute to the AIDS response.

Access for All - Bangkok 2004 / Netherlands from 2006
Prior to the International AIDS Conference in 2004 in Bangkok, Han Nefkens and Hilde Teerlinck started the ‘Access for All’ project. They asked several international artists, including Lawrence Weiner, Shirin Neshat (illustrated), Sue Williamson and General Idea, to each design a work based on the theme of the conference: Access for All. This resulted in ten special pieces, each one reflecting the artist’s personal take on the AIDS problem. The ten high-quality works were produced by the Ecole Sup?rieure d’Art Le Quai Mulhouse and Bieler Huningue printers in France in a limited edition of fifty sets.
The works were presented in the renowned Queen’s Gallery during the conference in Bangkok and were subsequently shown in the Centre Rh?nan d’Art Contemporain (CRAC) in Altkirch. In the spring of 2006, the works toured the Netherlands, where they were on display in the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam, the Domein Museum in Sittard, the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden and the Jan Cunen Museum in Oss. By selling the works, ArtAids raises money to combat HIV in Thailand. 

The price of the entire series (including portfolio and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and the publication ‘Access for All’) is €1,950, not including VAT.

HIV-NAT - Thailand
ArtAids has set up a program to provide medical care together with HIV-NAT. HIV-NAT conducts an HIV-AIDS research program in Thailand funded with grants from the Netherlands and Australia and under auspices of the Thai Red Cross. An important part of this program is using advanced methods and the most effective medicines to treat people infected with HIV who otherwise would have no access to such assistance. The Thai government does provide medical treatment to all children with HIV, for example, but the newest medicines, prepared in children's doses, are not yet available. This means that Thai children with HIV often have to cope with side effects, and the effectiveness of the medicines is limited. Most of them do not live past their fourteenth year.

Art Camp - Thailand
ArtAids finances an annual Art Camp in Thailand where children with HIV can paint, draw and work on batik under the direction of a well-known artist. There is a great stigma attached to HIV in Thailand. The safe and easy-going atmosphere at the Art Camp contributes to an environment in which the children and their caregivers can exchange experiences and find mutual support - a first for most of the children. Thanks to a series of follow-up gatherings the children are able to continue the contacts they formed at the Art Camp.