ADRIANA BERTINI

I'm an artist and I work in the Dress Up Againt AIDS Project which is composed by art workshops, debates, artisic interventions, art exhibitions, publicity campaigns, lectures and formation of young community agents in aids prevention.
For twelve years I have investigated the transformation of condoms into art pieces re-utilizing condoms which haven't been approved by the companies' quality control process. The goal is to re-define the condoms' image by breaking taboos and inserting the image in a natural way to every day life. Art techniques such as tapestry, painting and sewing are used in workshops with youngsters from risky areas, people living with HIV/AIDS, educators, health workers and the prison population. These workshops produce exhbitions of condom dresses, sculptures and tapestries. They are held in community centers, art galleries, museums, schools, universities and public spaces always in partership with all media valuing the participants' self-esteem. All these activities are monitored by Lara Vainer Schucman, psychologist englobing themes such as sexuality, religion, unplanned pregnancy and abortion, stimulating the re-negotiation of condom use in sexual intercourse.