Surviving & Thriving: AIDS, Politics, and Culture/Sobrevivir & Prosperar: Sida, Politica y Cultura

The National Library of Medicine exhibit Surviving & Thriving: AIDS, Politics, and Culture/Sobrevivir & Prosperar: Sida, Politica y Cultura is on display in the Richard J. Daley Library on Floor 2 now through December 20, 2019. On display in both English and Spanish, the exhibition explores the rise of AIDS in the early 1980s and the evolving response to the epidemic over the last 30 years.

The title, “Surviving & Thriving/Sobrevivir & Prosperar” comes from a book written in 1987 by and for people with AIDS that insisted people could live with AIDS, not just die from it. Jennifer Brier, the exhibition curator and UIC associate professor of gender and women’s studies, explains that “centering the experience of people with AIDS in the exhibition allows us to see how critical they were, and continue to be, in the political and medical fight against HIV/AIDS.” Surviving and Thriving/Sobrevivir & Prosperar presents their stories alongside those of others involved in the national AIDS crisis.

The exhibition utilizes a variety of historic photographs as well as images of pamphlets and publications to illustrate how a group of people responded to, or failed to respond, to HIV/AIDS.

Visitors can view the exhibit during regular Richard J. Daley Library hours.