In 1987, the distribution catalogue for London-based Albany Video lists eleven videos available for hire under the heading ‘HEALTH, AIDS’. Since then, the majority of these have been lost or are no longer in circulation. For this event, we’re delighted to host filmmaker / researcher Ed Webb-Ingall to present on collecting and digitising some of these alternative and activist UK AIDS videos, a number of which have not been screened in public since they were first made.

By the mid-1980s, the introduction of compact and affordable video camcorders allowed for the democratization of video production and distribution by those impacted by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This presentation and program will explore how access to video engendered new forms of representation that challenged widely accepted narratives around HIV and AIDS; creating spaces for activism, discussion and reflection. Through the examination of a selection of the videos that were made in the UK, Webb-Ingall will draw connections between alternative AIDS video on both sides of the Atlantic and diversify the history of AIDS activist video outside of North America. He will be joined by Theodore Kerr for conversation following the presentation.

Ed Webb-Ingall is a filmmaker and researcher working with archival materials and methodologies drawn from community video. He collaborates with groups to explore under-represented historical moments and their relationship to contemporary life, developing modes of self-representation specific to the subject or the experiences of the participants. He is the participation programmer for the London Community Video Archive and is writing a book with the working title ‘Video Activism Before the Internet:1969-1993’.

Canadian born Theodore Kerr (he/him) is a Brooklyn based writer, organizer and artist whose work focuses on HIV/AIDS, community, and culture. His writing has appeared in Women’s Studies Quarterly, The New Inquiry, BOMB, Lambda Literary, The Advocate, The St. Louis American, and other publications. In 2016, he won the Best Journalism award from POZ Magazine for his HyperAllergic article on race, HIV, and art. In 2015, Kerr was the editor for an AIDS-focused issue of the We Who Feel Differently journal, and in 2018, he was the editor of WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW ABOUT AIDS COULD FILL A MUSEUM, an issue of the journal, ON CURATING.
. Kerr is a founding member of the What Would An HIV Doula Do? collective, a community of people committed to better implicating community within the ongoing response to HIV/AIDS. In the winter of 2019, WWHIVDD curated an exhibition for the One Archives and the NYC LGBT Center entitled, METANOIA: Transformations through AIDS Archives and Activism. It is currently on view now at the ONE Gallery in West Hollywood.
Creating postcards, posters, stickers, and collages, Kerr’s art practice is about bringing together pop culture, photography and text to create fun and meaningful shareable ephemera and images. Collaboration is a big part of Kerr’s art practice. Two of his works, in collaboration with Shawn Torres and Jun Bae, are part of DePaul Art Gallery’s permanent collection.
Kerr earned his MA from Union Theological Seminary. Currently, Kerr teaches at The New School. His work can be found here, and you can keep up to date with his work here.