Bonangani Ximba
South African
AIDS Orphans
January 2002
Wood, cotton, and beads
The “Siyazama” Project
Photo by Kate Wells
This object richly embeds themes of HIV/AIDS destruction and awareness. The text on the beam translates from isiZulu to “orphaned by HIV,” indicating the work’s depiction of children left parentless as a result of the disease. Of note is the red-dominating color scheme, as well as the AIDS red ribbon logo stitched into each child.
The work portrays the interpersonal consequences of HIV/AIDS in South African communities. Such communities, including Ximba’s in KwaZulu-Natal, must reconcile the intergenerational impact of HIV/AIDS, particularly the difficulties that result from both children born with the disease and children orphaned due to diseased parents. Community members care for orphaned children, doubling the burden of the disease.
AIDS Orphans was created through the “Siyazama” Project. “Siyazama”––isiZulu for “we are trying”––serves a dual purpose. Women living with HIV/AIDS are provided with a chance to articulate their experiences, while additionally gaining access to health educational resources.
Alexander Kogan ’20
Bibliography:
Breidlid, Anders. “Indigenous Knowledges, the Global Architecture of Education and Health, and the HIV/AIDS Pandemic: Towards a Paradigm Shift?” In Perspectives on Youth, HIV/AIDS and Indigenous Knowledges in Africa, edited by Anders Breidlid, Austin M. Cheyeka, and Alawia Ibrahim Farag, 9-24. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers, 2015.
This article explains, by looking at some case studies, the general state of knowledge about health and disease (specifically HIV/AIDS) in African villages. Also of note, Breidlid examines the usefulness of “Western” approaches to health education and healing in the African context, pushing back on typical stereotypes (as this exhibition hopes to do).
Wells, Kate, Marsha MacDowell, C. Kurt Dewhurst, and Marit Dewhurst. Siyazama: Art, AIDS and Education in South Africa. Scottsville, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2012.
This book contains a series of articles expressly about the “Siyazama” Project, through which AIDS Orphans was created. This source is of foremost importance in understanding the goals and details of the Project, as well as in providing a general understanding of the interplay between artistic expression and health discourse.
Wells, Kate, Edgard Sienaert, Joan Conolly, Fokosile Ngema, Nzama, Celani Njoyeza, Bonangani Ximba, and Beauty Ndlovu. “The “Siyazama” Project: A Traditional Beadwork and AIDS Intervention Program.” Design Issues 20, no. 2 (2004): 73-89. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1512081.
This article analyzes various works that are produced through the “Siyazama” Project, including AIDS Orphans. The article provides some formal analysis of the works, as well as contextualizes the work with broader information about the AIDS epidemic.
