The House Is Small But the Welcome Is Big
Photography By and About African Women and Children Affected by HIV/AIDS

January 19-March 26, 2010, Coburn Gallery (Worner Center)

Exhibit will be closed for CC Spring Break:  March 10th-19th, except by appointment.

Over a period of two years an unlikely group of amateur photographers documented the life and death struggle of HIV/AIDS in sub–Saharan Africa. Eighteen children from Maputo, Mozambique, orphaned by AIDS, and 15 HIV-positive women in Cape Town, South Africa, pointed cameras at images in their communities to tell the uncensored story of their lives. The result is a stirring exhibit of 38 photographs premiering in Colorado Springs at CC’s Coburn Gallery.  The photos are tragic and hopeful, lively and compelling. Some are difficult to look at. All of them are hard to dismiss.

Denver native, CC alumnus, and Emmy-nominated writer/executive producer of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Neal Baer, M.D., is co-founder of the project.  “These children, as young as 10 and no older than 18, have a lot to say through these images about living on their own and raising younger siblings by themselves,” says Baer. “That’s the harsh truth about AIDS in Africa. Millions of children are growing up alone, a generation without the guidance or love of parents.”

One of the most beautiful photographs is titled, “My Memories” and is a pair of hands gently touching old black and white photographs.  “Photographs of my parents are displayed, which show their past. I show everyone my parents [when they were] alive through these photos, which is a joy for me,” says Joaquim Macamo, the 16 year-old photographer. Macamo lost both of his parents to AIDS in 2001 and lives with his 20 year-old sister.

Tuesday, February 23, 4:30 pm
Film Screening Room
Edith Kinney Gaylord Cornerstone Arts Center

A presentation of Mozambican teenager Alcides Soares’ documentary about being orphaned by AIDS will be screened in conjunction with the exhibit. The award-winning short film tells the story of Alcides and his friends as they come to terms with the loss of their parents and seek to create new family bonds. Neal Baer, the film’s Executive Producer and Lynn Warshafsky, Executive Director of Venice Arts will present the film and speak about the creation of The House is Small project.

For more information about the project, visit www.thehouseissmall.org

For more information about Venice Arts, visit www.venice-arts.org