Photographs line the walls of the rotunda in Durban’s City Hall. The light streams in from the windows of the cupola and recorded voices of the “artivists,” as they are known, speak to all who enter. The exhibition is called Through Positive Eyes: 10 Years. 9 Cities. My Photo. My Story.

Storytelling is revealed in several forms as visitors immerse themselves in the exhibition. Over the course of 10 years, co-directors of the Through Positive Eyes project David Gere and Gideon Mendel have brought together from around the world people living with HIV.

In each of the nine cities, the process began the same way—a group of people, strangers to each other, were given a camera. What started as a foreign object quickly became an extension of themselves.

Mr Mendel, an award-winning photographer, leads photo education workshops alongside his associate, Crispin Hughes. Mr Gere, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, conducts the story interviews.

“It was therapeutic to hear other people’s stories,” said artivist Simiso Msoni of Durban. “Overall, it was just fun to tell your story and what it means to live with HIV through pictures.”

The Durban exhibition brings many of the past participants together, as well as their art. An innovative feature is the live dialogue sessions, in which two of the participants speak to each other about their experiences and visitors can listen as their stories unfold.

Edwin Cameron, a Judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, called the exhibition extraordinary. “This exhibition is important for what it does for visibility, for what it does for voices,” he said. He underlined the need to listen and learn from people living with and affected by HIV and the need to break down barriers caused by stigma and discrimination. 

The exhibition includes works by Adriana Bertini, Mandisa Dlamini, Daniel Goldstein, Ross Levinson, Gordon Mundie and Parthiv Shah and is co-curated by Stan Pressner, Carol Brown and Mr Gere.