With “The fight against AIDS in images”, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum invites you to explore more than 30 years of communication about the disease.

The exhibition, which first appeared at the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum in Dresden, includes awareness campaign posters, works of art and films that illustrate just how challenging it was, and still is, to communicate on this sensitive topic.

When the virus first emerged, it affected ‘other people’ – drug addicts, homosexuals and prostitutes – and the general public felt safe. But the first cases of blood contamination in July 1985 brought the virus into the public sphere. AIDS then began to penetrate the collective psyche and draw the attention of the media.

The awareness campaigns – some alarming, some shocking, some moving and some even tongue in cheek – reveal the anguish and the taboos surrounding the pandemic and the contexts in which it took hold and spread. These campaigns are true mirrors of our society.

The exhibition goes further than merely reflecting on the disease, making us question how we relate to our bodies and our sexuality.