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The Washing Line: Fiona Kirkwood
South African artist Fiona Kirkwood, who has been working in the field of HIV/AIDS since 1998 and acknowledged locally and internationally for her cultural contribution, recently exhibited an installation entitled ?The Washing Line? in the east coast city of Durban from 20-26 April 2006. This was part of Tangencya 2, curated by local sculptor Andries Botha, in which visual and performance-based art interventions were held around the city of Durban, one of the main themes of which was a focused response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in South Africa. Fiona was particularly interested in how gender inequality impacts on HIV/AIDS.
Introduction
 South Africans live in a male-dominated society wherein males make the decisions, and women have little bargaining power.?Younger women - between the ages of 15 and 24 years - have even less bargaining power. Condoms are not part of traditional African culture. ?Ignorance, lack of education, myths, stigma, poverty and poor nutrition (which lowers immunity), are all factors that contribute to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.?Women?are especially powerless?when they have children to care for, do not own a home and do not have a job. Women might choose to be monogamous, but in Africa many men are not.??Prostitution is not legalised and so sex workers have no support or protection.? Rape of women?is a huge problem, as is the rape of children?and virgins. ?The?reality is that the number of girls and women affected with HIV and AIDS has increased in every region of the world in the last two years.? Almost half of the adults living with HIV and AIDS are women.??In sub-Saharan Africa, 60% of infected people are girls and women.
"The Washing Line" Project
The aim of ?The Washing Line? project was to encourage people to examine issues around HIV/AIDS, gender, equality and patriarchy, and to open discussions that might lead to positive changes in behaviour as a means of curbing the spread of HIV/AIDS. The project was conducted in and around Durban?s Workshop Shopping Centre ? a space in the heart of the city, largely utilised by young black consumers. The three focus points were the Gazebo, Sloane Square and the Amphitheatre, and featured presentations as follows:
 The Gazebo: an undercover area bordering Gugu Dlamini Park, outside the main shopping mall. Interactive sessions with the public were conducted over three days, attracting a variety of passersby, including street-children, people living with HIV, prostitutes, shoppers, students, schoolgoing boys and girls, workers, grandparents and young children.
Sloane Square : upstairs inside the shopping centre. Public interactive sessions were conducted over a full day, mostly with young people and shoppers.
The Amphitheatre: this performance space outside the Centre was used for a performance on the last day of the exhibition. It is a busy area with a constant flow of young people walking past where people can sit or stand around and interact. The activities included a keynote speaker, a drama performance and interactive sessions with the audience, as well as the distribution of HIV/AIDS pamphlets by NGOs and free distribution of condoms. The activities attracted hundreds of passers by, largely young people.
"The Washing Line" Installation:
 The Washing Line Installation included two washing lines, (one male and one female) and consisted of mixed media, fabric, metal and wood.
The concept of ?The Washing Line? was based on the fact that all human beings wear clothes, whether as a form of protection, as decoration, to show our status?in society and/or to express our individuality.? The Installation displayed the clothes of families, individuals and groups in our society being ? literally and symbolically - hung out to dry, like a metaphorical cleansing and airing of experiences that are lived and shared.
The "Washing Line" can also be seen as a symbol for the domestic role of women.? Washing clothes is generally?considered to be?women's work in our society, and in fact, universally. Fiona placed a series of stands around The Washing Line to act as a border or boundary. The stands were of equal height, surmounted by circles (like heads) with the universal symbols for MALE and FEMALE and HIV/AIDS ribbons.????These symbolically represent GENDER, EQUALITY and HIV/AIDS.
She worked with second-hand clothes that had no known connection with HIV/AIDS and a few new clothes. The clothes were those of females and males of different ages varying from babywear to an elderly woman?s outfit. The?clothes represented people in our society and individual roles and status within it (for example, an orphan, a worker, a teenager, a pregnant woman and a politician). Some of the clothes were marked or altered incorporating words (in English and isiZulu) or symbols linked to HIV/AIDS and peoples? experiences (e.g. virgin, ?abused?, ?Gogo?).
Fiona was helped greatly in this work by four third-year Fine Art students from Durban University of Technology, who assisted her throughout the project: Tamlyn Young, Mondli Dlamini, Yerushka Chetty and Nozipo Zulu.
Using "The Washing Line" For Performance and Education:
 The clothes were taken from the washing line and used by the performers and educators as props for a play, storytelling and as a catalyst to open up discussions with the public. Facilitation at the Gazebo and Sloane Square venues was done by Ntombi Mbambo from Street Law South Africa, with some help from Mondli Dlamini, Yerushka Chetty and Nozipho Zulu.
At the Amphitheatre venue, facilitation and performances were done by Men as Partners, Oby Obyerodyhambo from Kenya, The Fatherhood Project and the Wentworth Organisation of Women. Supporting partners holding information and awareness stalls were the eThekwini Department of Health, KZN Network on Violence Against Women, the Black Sash, Amnesty International, NICRO, ATIC, Gender AIDS Forum and the South African Police Services.
With the help of the public, new washing lines were created. Small paper clothes were hung on the lines onto which comments were written by the public in English and isiZulu with their responses to their experiences at The Washing Line.
During the run of the project, Fiona was invited to participate in a one-hour talk-show on Radio Lotus FM, together with Bridget Tshabalala from the Department of Justice and Devina Perumal, a law lecturer from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and an expert on Gender/HIV/AIDS issues.
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 Public Response
Fiona finds it difficult to quantify or even gauge the overall response to the Installation in blanket terms, as some messages would enter people?s minds subliminally. The project team did not do a survey or have discussions with all the people who were ?touched? by the Project. Since the end of April, however, a growing body of positive feedback on the project flows in, indicating that there was a tangible impact on individuals? experience which seems to have lingered strongly in people?s minds. There has been discussion about rolling out the Project in other venues. Video and photographic documentation will be seen in a large curated exhibition of KwaZulu-Natal art at municipal public art galleries in various towns and cities in South Africa from September 2006 onwards.
The main facilitator, Ntombi Mbambo, recorded the following reflections on what she experienced while working with The Washing Line Project:
?The initial reaction from the majority of people was one of curiosity. This led to some questions as to the nature of the project, and where we came in as facilitators. The following are some of their reactions:
- Most only needed some initial discussion around a few of the pieces and thereafter could form opinions and interpretation on the other works.
- The opinions centred on the immediate issue of gender. People seemed to understand more easily the different ways in which both genders are affected and infected by HIV/AIDS.
- There was a strong response that male domination is common across communities, with women having to be subservient to the men. People felt that this structure created disempowered women in relationships, especially sexual relationships, so that only men could decide on condom usage and safe sex.
- In most cases, men are the main breadwinners, which ensure that men enjoy more power. This leads to an expectation that their abuse of such power, taking the form of rape, molestation and general physical and psychological violation, becomes a way of life for a woman and her children.
- These conditions also underlie the reality that the decision to test for HIV is not afforded to the woman - let alone discussed.
- However, it seems that this issue is double-sided, as some of the men pointed out that sometimes it is the woman who refuses to ?eat an unpeeled banana? or ?sweet with a wrapper? ? the verbal expression referring to using a condom during sex. This goes to show that men are not always the more dominant gender force in relationships and sexual interaction.
- Young participants and spectators had a lot of questions about HIV transmission. These discussions turned to the prevailing myths around transmission and ways in which accurate information could be communicated to eradicate misunderstandings. Some of the myths mentioned covered ideas about ?cures? for HIV, the shower theory, and sleeping with a virgin. What was refreshing is that they were outspoken about what they believe in and were willing to learn.
- Some of the public were not aware of the existence of the female condom, an example of which had been placed on one of the Installation pieces. This display definitely helped to inform people about this method, even though we had not intended to focus on condom education.
- Parents were concerned about their children having unprotected sex, indicating that some had accepted the fact that their children have sex. It was also encouraging to discover that adults wanted to talk about sex and try to help their children by lifting traditional taboos and making such topics open for discussion in their homes. Some adult participants were mothers who wanted to bring their children to The Washing Line because they suspected them of being sexually active and were hoping that the Project would help them to open up.
- Women who were concerned about their HIV status and needed encouragement to get tested came to the fore. A young man who was HIV-positive offered his services to interact with the public and to share his knowledge with people.
- The men in general were very supportive of the whole project. Their reaction was one of concern for their mothers, sisters and daughters.
- The discussions that were held were always fruitful, because it enabled everyone involved to really see the face of our nation, to hear them speak honestly and take action with a willingness to learn and obtain help across both genders.
- Most of all, the audience agreed that trying to teach people about HIV/AIDS had become repetitive, but that using fresh ideas such as ??The Washing Line? made learning and awareness refreshing and interesting - especially for the youth?.
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