Stay Safe: keeping up the fight

From the front rows of Antwerp to the front line of Designers Against AIDS, Ninette Murk has spent the past two decades raising awareness on HIV and STDs. Today, her job seems more urgent than ever.

- Rosario Morabito

Talking about HIV while being quarantined for the Coronavirus pandemic is somewhat surreal. While most of the world seems to focus on only one topic, the thoughts of those who grew up in the ‘80s and the ‘90s go back to the pandemic that marked their youth. AIDS also seemed to appear overnight, killing people, with no cure in sight – and panic spread. But, as the contagion seemed a prerogative of drug addicts, sex workers and homosexuals, the social stigma on those infected highjacked the conversation, causing almost irreversible damage – it took years and thousands of casualties before public opinion stopped considering HIV as some sort of leprosy. When that finally happened, it was thanks to fearless activists who campaigned against all odds to change people’s minds and demand social justice for the victims. Taking up that torch is Ninette Murk, founder of Designers Against AIDS and Beauty Without Irony.