To mark this year's World AIDS Day, the international HIV/AIDS charity organization AVERT hopes to further spread HIV/AIDS information, awareness and support via the personal experiences and/or viewpoints of people --worldwide-- touched by the illness in some way. And since WorldAIDS Day (Dec 1st) is almost here, AVERT has just launched 'Reflections on the Epidemic', a series of inspirational HIV/AIDS related articles and/or stories told by various guests such as global leaders, experts and writers. The first guest writer of the series is Designers Against AIDS founder and director Ninette Murk with her article 'Why beauty is a great weapon'. In it Ninette tells the story of why and how she got involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS. From her art collective Beauty Without Irony (BWI)--launched in 2001 to promote a better world through campaigns created by artists, designers and musicians-- to her first-ever HIV/AIDS fundraiser 'Designers Do Denim' and founding of HIV/AIDS prevention NGO Designers Against AIDS in honor of friends lost to the illness. Today, over a decade later, BWI and DAA are stronger than ever: DAA with its many projects involving top celebrities and fashion brands, BWI with its relaunch as a creative platform for social change scheduled in early 2013.

For more on Ninette Murk and the series 'Reflections on the Epidemic' click here: http://www.avert.org/why-beauty-is-a-great-weapon-in-the-fight-against-hiv-aids.htm

Art work by Marco Santaniello. 

-La Vero