Learn more about HIV and AIDS through stories and works from the collection.
Related stories
Read stories connected to the exhibition.
Related works from the collection
Explore works from our collection that reflect themes of HIV, activism and intimacy.
ACT UP
ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) is an activist group focused on direct action against the AIDS epidemic. Founded in New York in 1987, it grew into a global network campaigning around HIV, with chapters including London, Manchester, Paris and Vienna.
- Pictures
A pink triangle against a black backdrop with the words 'Silence=Death' representing an advertisement for the Silence=Death Project used by permission by ACT-UP, The AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power. Colour lithograph, 1987.
Silence = Death Project
Date: 1987
- Pictures
Compilation of newspaper cuttings including a group of protesters; one wears a death mask and cloak, another carries a banner with the slogan: 'Boycott Wellcome products''; an advertisement for the campaign Act Up Manchester in support of care for those with AIDS. Black and white photocopy with red.
Date: [between 1900 and 1999]
- Ephemera
De colère de sexe d'amour d'action de zap de combat de plaisir de sang de mort de fierté de loi de force de capotes de manif de vie de silence de combat de lutte contre le SIDA : 20 ans d'ACT UP Paris : Act Up-Paris 2009 : affiche pour les 20 ans de l'association / ACT UP Paris.
Date: 2009
- Pictures
A black and white target circle with a pink centre and the message in French: "Homosexuals: 20,000 live in anger" representing an advertisement for a gay pride event organised by ACT UP on Saturday 22 June, 1996. Colour lithograph.
Date: [19]96
- Pictures
Pope John Paul II frowns and raises a finger on which sits a condom; a safe sex advertisment for Act Up Europe by Denis Rommelaere and Noël Roger. Lithograph, ca. 1997.
Date: [19]96
- Pictures
The statement 'Combat AIDS not people with AIDS' with a list of associations receiving donations for people with HIV and AIDS including Association Lebensfreude People and AIDS Association (Club Plus), Z 665-102-406; AIDS-Hilfe Vienna AIDS / HIV Unit; an advertisement by the action group Act Up Vienna. Colour lithograph.
Date: [between 1990 and 1999]
- Ephemera
Wellcome Foundation Ltd. : profits soar in '88!' / ACT-UP, the AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power.
Date: [1989]
- Ephemera
Silence = mort / ACT UP Paris.
Date: 1994
What Would an HIV Doula Do?
‘What Would an HIV Doula Do?’ (WWHIVDD) is a collective of artists, activists and practitioners across the HIV spectrum, formed in response to the ongoing AIDS crisis.
- Books
We remind you : HIV & Palestine / What Would an HIV Doula Do?.
What Would an HIV Doula Do?
Date: [2024]
- Books
Recognizing the present : a guide to HIV in the 21st century / What Would an HIV Doula Do? and Visual AIDS.
What Would an HIV Doula Do?
Date: [2020]
- Books
What does a COVID-19 doula do? / by What Would an HIV Doula Do?.
What Would an HIV Doula Do?
Date: 2020
- Books
Alternate endings, activist risings / Visual AIDS.
Visual AIDS
Date: [2018]
- Books
In our bodies : a zine about pleasure, intimacy, and reality in 2020 / by What Would an HIV Doula Do?.
What Would an HIV Doula Do?
Date: 2020
- Books
Twenty-one questions to consider when embarking on aids related cultural production / What Would an HIV Doula Do? and Visual AIDS.
What Would an HIV Doula Do?
Date: [2018]
- Books
Harm reduction is not a metaphor : living in the 21st century with drugs, intimacy, and activism / What Would an HIV Doula Do? and Visual AIDS.
What Would an HIV Doula Do?
Date: [2021]
- Books
Twenty-seven questions for writers and journalists to consider when writing about COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS / questions crafted and edited by Abdul-Aliy A. Muhammad, Alexandra Juhasz, Daniel Sanchez Torres, Diana Cage, Elizabeth Koke, Emily Bass, JD Davids, Jennifer Brier, Maxe Crandall, Nicholas D’Avella, Pato Hebert, Salonee Bhaman, Shanti Avirgan, Theodore (ted) Kerr, Virgil B/G Taylor for What Would an HIV Doula Do? (WWHIVDD).
What Would an HIV Doula Do?
Date: 2020
HIV Care Centres in London
During the UK AIDS epidemic, people living with HIV faced stigma, secrecy and hostile media coverage. Care centres stepped in to provide vital support and safe spaces.
- Ephemera
The Landmark : a centre for people living with HIV and AIDS ... 47A Tulse Hill, Brixton SW2 2TN ... / The Landmark.
Date: [approximately 1994?]
- Ephemera
The Landmark : a centre for people affected by HIV/AIDS.
Date: 1994
- Ephemera
Women at London Lighthouse : a centre for people facing the challenge of AIDS / London Lighthouse.
Date: 1992
- Ephemera
Mildmay : transforming AIDS care / Mildmay Mission Hospital.
Date: [2009?]
- Ephemera
The lighthouse bike ride : London to Loseley House : Sunday 12 Sept. 1993 ... / Open Air Bike Rides.
Date: 1993
- Pictures
A lighthouse with two beams of light left and right; advertisement for services provided by the London Lighthouse centre for those with AIDS and HIV. Colour lithograph by Sophie Herxheimer, 1991.
Date: 1991
- Ephemera
Introduction to London Lighthouse : a centre for people facing AIDS.
Date: 1993
- Ephemera
NHS cuts mean Mildmay's UK hospital could close leaving HIV patients without vital care : Save Our Service : text SOSM10 £3 to 70070 to help Save Our Service /cMildmay.
Date: [2011?]
- Ephemera
Mildmay.org.
Date: [between 2009 and 2010?]
- Ephemera
HIV is still here : and so are we! / Mildmay, providing HIV care to the gay community for over 20 years.
Date: [2009?]
HIV Posters
Around the world, organisations, charities and activist groups have used posters to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS. From public health campaigns and support services to protest and advocacy, these posters reflect the needs of the communities they were made to reach.
- Pictures
Two faces kissing and merged in the shape of a heart with the words "Aimer sans peur" [love without fear]; one of a series of posters representing an advertisement for a competition for posters of images against AIDS. Colour lithograph by Renata Zolcinska.
Date: [between 1990 and 1999]
- Pictures
A couple with square heads bearing the letters 'H', 'I', 'V', one with a positive sign, the other with a negative sign with the words 'yes' written across their bodies and numerous male names surrounding them; an advertisement for supporting those with HIV by the AIDS Council of New South Wales. Colour lithograph by David McDiarmid, 1992.
Date: 1992
- Pictures
A central circle with four penis-like extensions surrounded by numerous small circles and flower shapes in each corner; one of a series of Aboriginal posters entitled 'Everybody's Business' concerning 'Education about AIDS' commissioned by the Commonwealth Department of Human Services and Health. Colour lithograph by Bronwyn Bancroft, 1992.
Date: 1992
- Pictures
Recto: a black figure with numerous heads and hands together holding a lion within a graphic background incorporating further heads; an illustration to an Ethiopian proverb; fifth of six posters advertising the American Red Cross HIV/AIDS program. Colour lithograph by Damballah Dolphus Smith,1992.
Date: 1992
- Ephemera
World AIDS Day 1st December 1994 : this is a special newsletter for anyone who might be involved in planning, organising or running an event to mark World AIDs Day / National AIDS Trust.
Date: 1994
- Pictures
Two women hold up another woman between them, a dove, a personified sun and a flower with facts about AIDS and HIV in Venezuela; an AIDS prevention advertisement. Colour lithograph by Marco Caamaño, 1993.
Date: 1993
- Pictures
Hands spelling out World Aids Day in sign language. Colour lithograph.
Deaf Mesmac.
Date: [between 1900 and 1999]
- Pictures
Series of graphic hearts with a block of text about HIV and AIDS; an advertisement for the National Aids Helpline by the Liverpool Health Promotion Service. Colour lithograph, 1997.
Date: 1997
- Pictures
A native American man wearing a feather head dress holds another across his knees against a backdrop of snow covered mountains; a calendar for 1995 by VIVA, Lesbian and Gay Latino artists to support those with HIV. Colour lithograph after Joey Terrill, 1994.
Joey Terrill
Date: 1994
- Pictures
The painted faces of two men, one above the other, by Bruno; with the message that being HIV positive does not mean the end; an advertisement by Mann-O-Meter, the information and telephone service for gay men. Colour lithograph.
Date: [between 1990 and 1999]
- Pictures
A native American woman with long hair and a striped robe looks to the left in a purple landscape with other random figures walking in different directions; advertisement for the HIV antibody test by the American Indian Health Care Association. Colour lithograph after Ernie Whiteman, 1990.
Whiteman, Ernie (Artist)
Date: 1990
- Pictures
A water-god embracing a goddess with a cornucopia, surrounded by figures bearing red hearts; an advertisement for women and HIV and AIDS to mark World AIDS Day 1990. Colour lithograph by Anita Viola Nielsen, 1990, for the AIDS Landsforeningen MOT.
Date: 1990
Works in this exhibition
Find the items on display in our online catalogue.
- Ephemera
- Online
AZT on trial : an all day conference exposing the practices in the development, licensing and prescription of AZT / SCAM.
Date: 1993
- Archives and manuscripts
Retrovir
Date: 1990s- Pictures
- Online
The interior of The Landmark centre for people affected by HIV/AIDS featuring various rooms and corridors. Colour lithograph.
Date: [between 1900 and 1999]
- Archives and manuscripts
Annual General Meetings (AGM's)
Date: 1986-1992- Pictures
- Online
John lying on a hospital bed, chatting.
Gideon MendelDate: [1993]- Pictures
- Online
Ian lies in a hospital bed with his mother by his side.
Gideon MendelDate: [1993]- Pictures
- Online
André makes a phone call from the visitors’ room.
Gideon MendelDate: [1993]- Books
Strutting to stop stigma / by Mel Rattue.
Rattue, MelDate: 2020