People living with HIV have always been at the heart of the HIV response, creating dialogue between individuals and communities and raising awareness to reduce HIV stigma and discrimination. While there has been significant progress in addressing HIV and AIDS thanks to advancements in medical research, and increased access to treatment and prevention, there is still significant social stigma attached to living with HIV.

The Dowse Art Museum and City Gallery Wellington together with the Burnett Foundation Aotearoa are honoured to present a panel discussion challenging HIV stigma, held in connection with current exhibition Derek Jarman: Delphinium Days.

Join the panel, chaired by Ryan Falck, as they reflect on their own experiences navigating an HIV-positive diagnosis and discuss their work across diverse communities at risk of HIV in Aotearoa, helping take care of themselves and each other through their sexual health practices.

Alongside the panel, a block of the New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt will be available to view from 1-5pm. The New Zealand Quilt Project was founded in December 1988 - the same year as the first World AIDS Day - by people living with HIV and AIDS in Aotearoa. It provided a platform to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS and honour the lives affected by the epidemic.

For World AIDS Day 2024, the galleries are proud to display Block 5 of the New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt which honours, among others, Neil Costelloe— one of the most important activists during the New Zealand Homosexual Law Reform Campaign, 1985-1986. When not on display, the New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt is held in the collection of Te Papa Tongarewa, National Museum of New Zealand.

Ciomarah Afele

With a deep commitment to providing support for people living with HIV and their Aiga / Whanau, Ciomarah’s work as HIV testing coordinator at Toitū te Ao involves finding innovative ways to reach our Māori and Pasifika communities to encourage them to get tested, and working hard so that our Māori, Pasifika and all indigenous people feel comfortable, heard and safe.

Ciomarah has worked in the HIV sector for 6 years. She has previously lived in Australia for 17 years where she worked as peer support worker at WAAC (Western Australia Aids Council) for Transwomen who were newly diagnosed and she served on advisory boards for NAPWHA (National Association of People Living with HIV Australia) and as a consultant for Trans folk Western Australia, advocating for the legislation change for Transwomen who were incarcerated.

Kit Harding

Kit has been living with HIV since 2018. As a gay man he was aware of HIV and had a concept that a diagnosis wasn’t going to be death sentence, but he still held personal misconceptions on what this really meant. He believed that if he contracted HIV that he would be sick for the rest of his life and that he would always be able to pass the virus on to other people, this is not the case. His diagnosis caused a significant mental health crisis over a number of years as he worked through what the new normal was for him personally. Trained as an HIV educator in 2022 he now works as the Positive Speakers' Bureau (PSB) Coordinator, coordinating 35 people living with HIV to share their stories of living with HIV and educating the wider community on what it means to be HIV positive today.

Judith Mukakaynge

Judith Mukakaynge survived the Rwandan genocide. Arriving in New Zealand through the refugee resettlement programme in 1998, Judith was determined to make the most of her fresh start in a peaceful land, only be told that she was HIV positive, and that she'd be dead within five years. Over 25 years on and very much alive and well, Judith holds a Bachelor’s degree in Health Promotion and now works full time as a Health Promotor at Positive Women Inc. An advocate and public speaker, Judith is passionate about reducing HIV related stigma and discrimination. Judith is a proud mother of two very health daughters and grandmother to two very active grandchildren.

Ryan Falck

Ryan is an HIV policy researcher who lives in Wellington by way of Portland, Oregon. Recently having completed his master’s in public policy from Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington, he has been involved in LGBT activism and rainbow health issues for over two decades. In his work within HIV testing and service provision as well as now in peer navigation and peer support for Body Positive, Ryan uses his 15 years of lived experience of HIV to help others navigate through HIV stigma as well as boost community knowledge about HIV