In 2005, some 8.3 million people were living with HIV in Asia, including 1.1 million people who became newly infected in 2004. AIDS claimed some 520,000 lives in 2005 (UNAIDS, 2005).

With the spread of HIV/AIDS in Asia, it is important to widen means of educating the public of the disease and means of prevention as much as possible. In response to this, UNESCO’s new programme entitled “Expanding the use of innovative HIV/AIDS prevention approaches using traditional forms of performing arts in Asia” exploits the possibilities of dance and drama in engaging people in HIV/AIDS issues and provides a channel for education and information.

“Using traditional performing arts can offer new perspectives on HIV/AIDS and its impact on our lives”, explains Dr. Richard Engelhardt, UNESCO Regional Advisor for Culture in Asia and the Pacific. “It is entertaining and allows the audience to culturally identify with the contents. Through movement, dance, and visual metaphors, performing arts can convey concepts, and dramatize social implications of diseases in highly charged human contexts.”

In low literacy areas performing arts can provide a form of communication that transcends literacy barriers and provide face-to-face interactions that other mediums such as television and radio may lack. In this way, information on HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support can be more effectively transmitted.

Mobilizing creative resources, the initiative aims to develop performances that present role models for behaviour change, are thought-provoking enough to make the audiences feel compelled to make such changes and even share the content of the performance with others making a significant impact on the community as a whole.

To implement the programme, UNESCO cooperates with local script writers and traditional performance artists whose knowledge and experience are essential for the creation of entertaining, well suited scripts and performances for target audiences in each community. The resulting performances are instrumental in promoting public debate and raising awareness about issues of sexuality and health within the artists’ countries.

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