One day in 1908, there was a hunter in the jungle of south-east Cameroon, Africa. Following a script that later generations may only imagine, his hunt was the way he proved himself to the tribe and provided for his family. During the hunt, he was hurt by a resistant chimpanzee. Although the wound broke deep to the sarcolemma, the hunter didn’t deal with it. At the beginning of the 20th century, the concept of blood-borne disease didn’t exist. The hunter had no cause for worry at all that the chimpanzee’s blood could likely sneak into his wound. As time went by, SIV (simian immunodeficiency virus) thrived as it adapted and evolved within the new host. Following its natural course, the virus penetrated various kinds of interpersonal contact networks and invaded the community. It was no longer a chimpanzee’s SIV. During the 1980s once this novel virus emerged as HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), it exposed the hypocrisy of postindustrial society’s purported claim to have compassion for minority and underprivileged groups. Moral condemners regarded the emerging epidemic like the plague sent by god—the punishment designed for individuals or groups who disobeyed their moral responsibilities.

In the 21st century, contemporary public health education campaigns follow the democratic model. The latex condom has become a cover-up for self-protection against patriarchy and autocracy to fulfill freedom and ideals. Disease carriers in a “society of suspicion” fear that their identities will be disclosed by force and suffer more psychologically than physically, because healthiness is perceived somehow as the proof of morality, while disease as the proof of corruption. No matter how many studies and those in power publicly state that “a disease is just a disease and does not belong to any group,” the related metaphor and stigma never end. To maintain life, people infected with HIV follow the doctor’s advice and take their prescription continuously. While sustaining life, it triggers a daily reminder they must coexist with the stain of a virus the world still regards as a kind of moral failure, thus causes isolation. As the medical historian Roy Porter once announced: “The days of sex without responsibility were over.” Infected or not, since each citizen treats themselves as one serological monad, it seems that everyone comes up with their own “prescription” in coexistence with this perceptible plague.

The exhibition is presented by the Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei and Taiwan HivStory Association. It is curated by Kairon Liu, the artist-curator of Humans of Hosts. He cooperates with several HIV initiatives and teams, and invites artists and researchers at home and abroad to explore and disclose the issue. Taking the MOCA Cube, plaza, TV wall and activity hall as the experimental fields, the exhibition attempts to step across the disease with art and establish a two-way communication platform with the participants. The exhibition closing will be held on World AIDS Day (1st of December), ending in dialogue, tribute and celebration.