Pretoria, South Africa

The Centre for the Study of AIDS (CSA) was established in 1999 at the University of Pretoria to understand the HIV/AIDS epidemic and to find new and creative ways to respond to it—going beyond tried-and-tested formulas and contributing to building a society that is equal, fair and tolerant. Every year the CSA produces a calendar that serves as an annual review for the centre, showcasing the work it does, reflecting its view of the epidemic, and honouring the people who have been lost to the HIV/AIDS pandemic (in away, to creating a memorial for them). Each calendar has a theme the CSA believes is topical and interesting and will provoke debate and discussion.

The theme for 2012 is “Leading Edge,” (commemorating the final naming of the “AIDS” pandemic which transpired 30 years ago). The calendar will consist of a boxed set of six A6-sized notebooks/mini diaries encased in a black slip cover. I was invited by Jacques Lange, editor of DESIGN> magazine and this year’s CSA project coordinator, to be one of 12 international designers contributing an image that references “30-years on we are still facing a global pandemic.” The above image is my contribution…

See me. Feel me. Touch me. Heal me.

The Who said it better than most…
the empathic capacities our species is imbued with
lie at the very core of what makes us “human.”

—Robert L. Peters, CGD, FGDC (Canada)