PIMA PROJECT

Project set to engage art and science in International Aids Society exhibition.

PIMA, a Swahili word, meaning ‘to count’, is an innovative creation and partnership by international medical company Inverness Medical and South African based non-profit organisation Art for Humanity (AFH).

The PIMA project, which is a collaboration of groundbreaking medical technology and art advocacy, is set to address and counter the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS in an exhibition at the 2009 International Aids Society (IAS) Conference at the Cape Town ICC in July this year.

The project involves the launch of the PIMA System, a revolutionary new blood analysing machine created and designed by Inverness Medical, which counts T-cells of the immune system in the blood of HIV infected people. Furthermore, AFH, an umbrella organisation of the Durban University of Technology (DUT), will launch the PIMA portfolio with four chosen artists, in addition to exhibiting Break the Silence, a previous portfolio targeted at HIV/AIDS awareness at the conference.

The collaboration is proposed to have mutual benefits for the two organisations; the sponsorship deal is expected to expand the AFH portfolio base, and help the charity financially, in response to helping Inverness Medical promote the PIMA platform.

The Pima Analyser and CD4 Test is the first true Point-of-Care (POC) CD4 system developed by Inverness Medical, and internationally recognised leader in POC diagnostics and disease management. The analyser, which requires only five micro-litres of finger-stick whole blood, is a simple, portable system with a rechargeable battery and provides a rapid CD4 result in 20 minutes.

Inverness Medical believes that with its commercial launch in mid-2009, the Pima CD4 system will have a significant impact on availability of CD4 testing in resource limited settings and in areas of limited with a limited infrastructure. The Pima CD4 system also offers the opportunity to greatly reduce the time clients or, in the context of preventing mother-to-child transmission, their infants have to wait between learning that they are HIV infected and starting anti-retroviral therapy. Inverness Medical is confident that the Pima Analyser will provide an important foundation for the development of a decentralised clinical testing and disease management infrastructure.

AFH has chosen four talented South African artists to create three unique images each in the format of digital print. In all, 12 images will be editioned as five artists-proofs and a 25 numbered edition. The artists; Yvette Dunn, Lawrence Lemaoana, Nontobeko Ntombela and Nicole Erasmus have been commissioned to create images that are to be based on and/or around the artistic, cultural, sociological, medical, technical specifications and general scientific impact displayed by the PIMA Platform in relation to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The PIMA Portfolio will closely follow in the model of previous AFH print portfolios, particularly Break the Silence.

As the world of science and art join forces to educate communities, the young artists will be encouraged to ‘think outside the box’ by considering, digital, giclée, and other technological means to edition their image concepts.

Nicole Erasmus, who is a DUT Graduate of a Fine-Art National Diploma, and is currently doing her Btech, is ready for the challenge in creating her artwork. Also an Asset-Manager at AFH, she believes that she has a deeper understanding of the significance of using art for social development from her work with the charity organisation: “This project is exciting as the arts and science ‘communities’ are working together to promote change and awareness. I feel privileged to have been selected to participate in a project of this nature,” she says.

Nontobeko Ntombela, also a DUT graduate, has participated in a previous AFH portfolio, is widely known as the curator for the DUT Art Gallery.

The artists work will feature on billboards, banners, and posters in regard to the education on HIV/AIDS. The artists are also to create a short video diary of their creative process in developing the images.

The role of AFH will be to coordinate the project and oversee the handling of the images created by the artists for the project. Alex Flett of AFH believes that art is just as good in its own field as any research going on in the field of science. Flett, who will design the layout of the PIMA portfolio project, believes that that the initiative is monumental to the work of AFH.
"As far as we are aware, the IAS Conference, because it is a science-based conference, has never had a major exhibition within its structure before. This puts AFH, Break the Silence, and the PIMA project at an advantage, and means that we are showing science the very best of art.", said Flett

Further exhibition spaces will be looked for by AFH in which to place the PIMA Project with a special emphasis on rural areas in South Africa. In the long term, it is anticipated that the PIMA Project together with Break the Silence Portfolio will be featured at the 2010 International AIDS Conference in Vienna. Exhibition opportunities will be looked for in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa and at further medical-conferences abroad. It is also hoped that the exhibition will travel to Germany via the Inverness Medical factory in the country.

The Pima Project exhibition will run between July 19 to 22 at the Cape Town ICC. For more information on the PIMA project or other AFH work, visit www.afh.org.za