back to today's front page

Having trouble finding what you need?
Please scroll down.

Cultural Programme

Monday 29 June, 1998

Surprise performance/ Dialogai Direct Action, 4 PM, Hall 4
Greta Gratos, a local performance artist, and her colleagues attracted attention today in Hall 4 with a humorous satire on the issue of equal access to appropriate treatment, central to the 12^th World AIDS Conference.

Perched three meters above ground, wearing an impressive wedding dress on wheels, she chanted "free access to treatments" while throwing multicoloured candy to the crowd of fans following her.

Her "bridegroom", an untrustworthy man, handed out bank notes from the "United States of AIDS" and offered passers-by a strange deal: "work for us, we'll give you a treatment."

Bandhu Social Welfare Society (Bangladesh), 3 PM, Hall 2
Bandhu Social Welfare Society's performed a traditional Bangladeshi song and dance tale to an audience of 100 people in Hall 2 at Palexpo.

The artists touched on the themes of friendship, homosexuality, AIDS and death. The simple and universally understood message was transmitted through an elegant and symbolic gesture: one dancer, who refuses to use the condom given by his friend, ruins his friendship and threatens his own life. He develops AIDS and dies after one last dance with Death.

Dancer Anisul Islam Hero explained that "traditional dance and symbolic use of masks and colours make the prevention message easy to understand for the Bangladeshi population."

DramAidE, South Africa, 5.30 PM, Hall 2
The interactive play "Welela" ("crossing together"), presented by DramAidE

(KwalZulu-Natal, South Africa), uses satire to challenge attitudes about AIDS . With incredible humour and energy, and with an active audience participation, DramAidE suggests that in the search for pleasure, the outcome might be pain, death and suffering.

The singing and the dancing alternate with scenes showing the harsh reality of a world in which people are living with AIDS, children are orphaned by the disease and women are unempowered to practice safer sex.

"Welela" mixes irony with seriousness, absurdity with reality, to show how to use a condom, how to deal with the never-ending paperwork at the social welfare office. It criticises the apathy of the government, thinks about the role of science and religion, and speaks of the inadequate reactions to help children affected by HIV.

"Welela" is an excellent ambassador of South Africa and has helped bridge the gap to the next World AIDS conference to be held in Durban, South Africa, in the year 2000.