Twenty years have passed since the initial reaction in New Zealand to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and Body Positive Canterbury is marking the occasion with a multi-format art exhibition at Gallery 291 in Christchurch. The works on display depict a variety of themes relating to sexuality and HIV/AIDS, including: friends who have died of AIDS, photos and paintings from the first ten years of the pandemic, before treatments were available, works by positive people exploring the issues they are facing as well as works by young people exploring their understanding of the disease. Ray Taylor, co-ordinator at Body Positve Canterbury, says issues surrounding HIV/AIDS are incredibly complex, and visual art is one of the best mediums in which to explore them. "Issues of sex, sexuality, life, disease, pain and death, to name but a few - these aren't easy issues to present," he says. "Art presents the issues and allows people to have a response. Also, it was felt that people had had enough of 'talking heads' and an exhibition was a more real way for people to express their feelings." The exhibition runs until 14 May and features works by nearly twenty different artists, male and female, from around New Zealand.