16 / AMAM.OBERLIN.EDU GATHERING FOR LOVE, GRIEF, AND HEALING During its year-long run, the exhibition The Body, the Host: HIV/AIDS and Christianity was used in teaching by more than two dozen Oberlin professors across the humanities, social sciences, hard sciences, music, theater, and dance. It also brought faith leaders, AIDS activists, students, and community members together through a robust slate of performances, film screenings, talks, and public programs. It was named 2024 “Best in Visual Arts” by POZ Magazine and was featured in TheBody, a platform for HIV awareness, among other press outlets. The exhibition highlighted Oberlin’s dual histories of theological scholarship and AIDS activism as well as the strong representation of Latin American and LGBTQ+ artists in the Allen’s collection. At the same time, the exhibition’s reliance on the museum’s permanent collection risked reproducing the exclusion of trans, Black, and brown artists and leaders from canonical histories of AIDS and the Church. Leading up toWorld AIDS Day, which is observed annually on December 1, the Allen hosted a major symposium addressing these issues. The event ran from November 15 to 16, with additional collateral events throughout the week. Coming on the heels of a fraught presidential election, emotions were high on Oberlin’s campus and among the Allen’s wider visitorship, which spans the political spectrum. The symposium created space for visitors to move through powerful feelings of pain, loss, resilience, and solidarity. Hearing directly fromHIV-positive artists and activists, particularly those who are trans and people of color, was a reminder of the importance of building coalitions, resisting forces of oppression, and finding ways to care for oneself in the face of hardship and cruelty. The keynote lecture was delivered by the Atlanta-based HIV and trans-rights activist Dee Dee Ngozi Chamblee, who the Allen’s visitors know through a portrait by Jess Dugan. Chamblee kicked off the event with a private fellowship dinner at First Church in Oberlin hosted by Reverend David Hill. Throughout the evening, trans and gender nonconforming students of color as well as students from various faith backgrounds approached Chamblee and shared their stories, thanking her for trailblazing a path in which they can grow and thrive. Chamblee spoke about how prayer and the Bible helped her to love herself and to understand that God loves her too. While her message was unconventional for a secular space of art and culture, it resonated with attendees and offered context for the exhibition—namely that love, spirituality, and faith can coexist with art, politics, and activism. Oberlin College dance students perform in the gallery.
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