Aids: A Living Archive (exhibition)
Date: 2001
Region: North America
Subject: Explicit Sexuality, Sexual/Gender Orientation
Medium: Mixed Media
Artist: Group of Artists
Confronting Bodies: Museum of the City of New York
Dates of Action: April, 2001
Location: Museum of the City of New York
Description of Artwork: Aids: A Living Archive was a part of Gay Men's Health Crisis: 20 Years Fighting for People with H.I.V./AIDS and included art / historical items documenting the public campaign against AIDS as well as interactive informative elements for museum visitors.
The Incident: The Museum of the City of New York altered some of the works in the exhibition. According to Jane Rosett, one of the two curators of the show, "Photos were cropped to exclude images of intimacy between men, and museum officials rejected representations of condoms." She was also told to exclude depictions of male genitals. A poster entitled 800 Men had been cropped to such an extent that an image of two men was taken out, leaving only the words visible. Marty Algaze, the spokesman of Gay Men's Health Crisis, was told by a museum official that the works were modified because "The museum gets a large group of children and some sexually explicit material would be inappropriate for them to see."
Results of Incident: The incident was dismissed, as the Gay Men's Health Crisis group wanted to keep a partnership with the museum and did not protest the censorship.
Source: The New York Times, Friday, April 27, 2001, NCAC
