Visual AIDS invites artists and filmmakers to submit proposals for new video works to be produced and distributed to over 100 venues worldwide for Day With(out) Art 2022. 

Visual AIDS has organized Day With(out) Art every year since 1989, coordinating art museums, galleries, and nonprofits across the world to present programs in response to the AIDS crisis. Since 2015, Visual AIDS has commissioned short videos from artists and activists to be distributed and screened at over 100 venues worldwide on/around December 1, World AIDS Day.

Our theme for Day With(Out) Art 2022: The Undertold Story

This year we are accepting proposals from artists and filmmakers for short video works that tell undertold stories about HIV and AIDS. We are particularly interested in proposals that: 

  • highlight the experiences of women and/or trans and gnc folxs living with HIV
  • uplift sex workers, advocate for their rights and protection, and/or discuss navigating sex work while living with HIV
  • advocate for care and respect of drug users through personal stories or harm reduction narratives
  • reflect on living with multiple disabilities or mental or chronic illnesses while living with HIV, or discuss HIV through a disability lens
  • consider HIV outside of a United States/Western context or in relation to immigrant/undocumented narratives 

Proposals need not be limited to the above topics, as there are many undertold stories. We welcome proposals from both emerging and established artists in a range of forms, including documentary, narrative, and experimental. Collaborative proposals are also welcome.

Anyone may submit a proposal, regardless of geographic location or HIV status. Artists and filmmakers who are living with HIV are encouraged to apply.

Up to six selected artists will receive a $2,000 honorarium to produce a short video work (5–7 minutes) to be premiered worldwide on December 1, 2022 for Day With(out) Art.

Visual AIDS will premiere these new video works at a marquee screening in New York City in addition to coordinating over 100 screenings at museums, universities, and arts organizations worldwide. Videos will be made available for free online viewing after December 1, 2021.

Proposals will be reviewed by a jury including curator and writer Nico Wheadon, filmmaker Jorge Bordello, artist and curator Ezra Benus, and cultural consultant and health activist Lauraberth Lima.

Successful proposals will respond thoughtfully to the themes outlined above and demonstrate the artist’s ability to produce a final video by July 1, 2022. Artists will be expected to independently manage the production of their work while incorporating feedback from Visual AIDS staff throughout the process.

* Note: Information about the video program for Day With(out) Art 2021 has been announced here. This call for proposals is for Day With(out) Art 2022.

Past Day With(out) Art projects have featured video works by Thomas Allen Harris, Lyle Ashton Harris, Shanti Avirgan, Mykki Blanco, Jorge Bordello, Gevi Dimitrakopoulou, Cheryl Dunye, Lucía Egaña Rojas, Rhys Ernst, Glen Fogel, Carl George, Jim Hodges, Jim Hubbard, Las Indetectables, Derek Jackson / Hi Tiger, Tom Kalin, Kia LaBeija, Carol Leigh / Scarlot Harlot, Luna Luis Ortiz, Ray Navarro, Tiona Nekkia McClodden, My Barbarian, Nguyen Tan Hoang, Brontez Purnell, Viva Ruiz, Mark S. King, Ira Sachs, Iman Shervington, Charan Singh, Ellen Spiro, George Stanley Nsamba, Nelson Sullivan, Justin B. Terry-Smith, Julie Tolentino, Tourmaline, Jack Waters and Victor F.M. Torres, James Wentzyand Derrick Woods-Morrow.

For more information on past Day With(out) Art projects, click here.

To apply, please submit a 250 word written proposal for a new film/video work, an artist statement, a work sample, and a CV through this Google Form. (A google account is required to apply.)

If you have any questions about the application process, please email Blake Paskal, Programs Associate at bpaskal@visualaids.org and Kyle Croft, Visual AIDS Programs Director at kcroft@visualaids.org.

DEADLINE: June 3, 2021

Successful applicants will be notified by September 2021.