Art and civic activism merge in the 2015 Hivos South America calendar

November 27, 2014

Art and civic activism merge in “Desatando” (untying), the 2015 calendar produced by Hivos’ regional office in South America. It is a collection of  illustrations created in a process that brought together five artists and nine representatives of Bolivian civil society organizations. They are all fighting for the decriminalization of abortion and the legalization of sex work, women’s rights, the LGBTI collective and people living with HIV.

The fruit of their collaboration is reflected in fifteen illustrations with accompanying texts that invite us to reflect on the bonds that society’s conservative structures impose on us.

“I am a woman. I am a source of life and live with HIV”; “I do not have any children, it’s my choice”; “My love free without prejudices”; “There is no power that can hide or erase the reality of clandestine abortions”. These are some of the texts written by participating activists.

Our regional office believes artistic expression is a fundamental tool to spur reflection on these themes. In 2013, we produced a calendar that celebrated the emancipation of sexual diversity and gender. Photographers and writers from across the world, male and female, joined their talents in defense of the LGBT movement. This initiative resulted in the “2013 Calendar of Sexual and Gender Diversity” (Calendario 2013 de las Diversidades Sexuales y de Género)

“The one I am” was the name of our 2014 calendar. It featured a collection of 12 images of Bolivian women. Women, who, through the lens of photographer Wara Vargas, transformed their corporeality to reclaim the female body as the subject of their own desires and pleasures.

The new calendar, “Desatando”, will be officially launched in La Paz on the 10th of December 2014 with a travelling exhibit of the 15 illustrations. In January 2015, the exhibit will be shown in Cochabamba and Santa Cruz.  The calendar will be distributed in Perú, Ecuador and Costa Rica. After the official launch, the online version of the calendar will be made available on this website.