The color red often evokes a sense of urgency — we see it in blood, anger, or danger — but for the artists behind Red Reminds Me…, it also invites reflection, vulnerability, and contemplation for the multifaceted experiences of living with HIV. On Tuesday, Dec. 3, at 6:30 p.m., The New School partnered with Visual AIDS to transform the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Auditorium into a space for students, alumni, faculty, and community members to reflect on the ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic through film. 

The screening featured seven new short films by artists from across the globe. These films were selected through an open call process and curated by a panel of jurors: poet and community worker aAliy A. Muhammad, activist Jessica Whitbread, curator Alper Turan, and community organizer Josué Lopez. Through mediums ranging from poetry to parody, the films selected reimagined how the HIV/AIDS epidemic is felt, remembered, and narrated. 

Since its inception in 1989, Visual AIDS has used art to fight stigma and preserve the legacies of those lost to the AIDS crisis. On Dec. 1 1989, the organization launched Day With(out) Art as a day of action and mourning, encouraging museums to either shroud their artwork, close their doors, or program exhibitions and events that acknowledge the epidemic’s impact. The initiative was designed to hold space for reflection, grief, and awareness by centering the crisis in cultural institutions. Over the past 35 years, it has evolved into a platform for new artistic commissions, such as the short films shown last Tuesday. 

The evening opened with a conversation led by Theodore Kerr, a part-time lecturer of Interdisciplinary Arts at Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, where he teaches the course Life During Memorialization. Kerr prompted the audience to reflect on The New School’s connection to the HIV/AIDS movement, specifically noting the university’s proximity to Greenwich Village. Just blocks from the Stonewall Inn — a landmark of LGBTQ+ activism and a pivotal moment in the fight for gay rights, and the New York City AIDS Memorial on Seventh Avenue — The New School is uniquely located near key sites of resistance and remembrance. The legacy of the university’s historical engagement with the epidemic is currently on display at the Arnold and Sheila Aronson Galleries in the exhibition titled AIDS at The New School: What is Remembered?.

Stan Walden, curator and designer of the Aronson Gallery exhibition, shared insights from his research into The New School’s archives. He uncovered a trove of student newspapers spanning from 1981 to 2007, documenting how students grappled with and advocated around the crisis. “It was really meaningful to see this record of student advocacy and interrogation of the topic,” Walden said. 

Before the screening, attendees were encouraged to share what they expected to see in the films. Responses ranged between sex, drugs, joy, love, death, and friendship. The hour-long program delivered a series of deeply personal and thought-provoking works, some aligning with the anticipated themes, while some reached beyond the expected narrative of living with HIV/AIDS. 

Highlights included HIV Fell in Love With Me by Mariana Iacono and Juan De La Mar, a powerful exploration of pleasure and sexuality for women living with HIV. The film employed playful shadow and light design, creating striking imagery while reclaiming intimacy and autonomy. 

David Oscar Harvey’s Ambivalence: On HIV & Luck took a different approach, using humor and visual symbolism to untangle the intertwined complexities of stigma and serendipity. Milko Delgado’s El Club del Sida combined satire, camp, and sincerity to examine a lifetime of stereotypes surrounding HIV. The film cleverly paralleled the melodramatic plotlines of the Mexican telenovela La Rosa de Guadalupe, critiquing its harmful narratives about AIDS. Imani Maryahm Harrington’s Realms Remix offered a deeply moving tribute to the friends, artists, and caregivers lost to AIDS, blending poetry and personal memory. With the evocative poem read during the film, AIDS Vigil Light, Harrington reminded viewers, “It is from this well of loss we remember who you were.”

The event was oriented around art, but also designed with connection in mind. Attendees were provided with name tags upon arrival, encouraging conversation and fostering a sense of openness and community. Attendees shared muffins, bananas, and chips while they mingled and reflected on the screening, and a few lingered after the event wound down to share personal reflections and goals, creating an intimate and thoughtful conclusion.

The resource guide distributed during the event included reflections from aAliy A. Muhammad, who highlighted the diversity of storytelling within the program, writing, “From the comical, to the introspective, and vibrant. We all tell our stories differently, because we aren’t the same.” With this sentiment, and other insights shared among the speakers and attendees, the event expressed hope that people living with HIV might see their experiences in the films, while also encouraging others to think critically about how they can better support those living with HIV. 

Red Reminds Me… challenged audiences to reconsider HIV not as a singular story, but as a prism of individual experiences, emotions, and possibilities. For those in attendance, the evening was a reminder of the power of art to connect, educate, and inspire action in the face of an ongoing crisis.