The Access to Life exhibit, featuring photographs from eight renowned Magnum Photos artists, opens December 9 at the African American Museum and Library at Oakland (AAMLO). The images on display chronicle the transformative effect that access to free antiretroviral drug treatments is having on AIDS patients around the world. AAMLO is located at 659 14th Street.
 

Access to Life came about through collaboration between Congresswoman Barbara Lee, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Magnum Photos and Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.  
 
Working in partnership with the agency Magnum Photos to create Access to Life, the Global Fund sent an international team of eight photographers to nine countries in the fall of 2007, and for a second visit four months later. Their aim was to document the dramatic impact of treatment on more than 30 individuals and their families. By telling these stories through photographs, text and multimedia pieces, the Access to Life exhibit graphically documents the positive impact that free antiretroviral drug treatment is having not only for the individuals portrayed, but on the lives of millions of AIDS patients around the world. 
 
Congresswoman Lee, who co-chaired the opening of the exhibit, said, "This exhibit aims to raise awareness of the fact that American investments in the fight against AIDS are working, and we must continue to lead this fight by supporting the Global Fund and other effective efforts."
 
The global response, highlighted in Access to Life, has been led by the United States through its support for entities including the Global Fund, which finances one-quarter of all AIDS prevention and treatment work globally. Since its creation in 2002, Global Fund-supported programs are estimated to have averted more than 4.0 million deaths by providing AIDS treatment for 2.3 million people, anti-tuberculosis treatment for 5.4 million people and by distributing 88 million insecticide-treated bed nets for the prevention of malaria worldwide. The Global Fund has so far approved funding in 140 countries.
 
The Access to Life photographic team included Americans Jim Goldberg, Eli Reed, and Steve McCurry; Canadian Larry Towell, Norwegian Jonas Bendiksen; Italians Paolo Pellegrin and Alex Majoli; and Frenchman Gilles Peress. In India, Haiti, Mali, Peru, Russia, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland and Vietnam, the photographers created visual chronicles that encompassed their subjects' lives both before and after drug treatments.
 
Access to Life will be on view at AAMLO through February 27, 2010. Call 510-637-0200 for information. 
 

During the month of December the TeenZone Art Wall and ACE Arts presents a compelling display of art and letters that respond to violent deaths in our community. Curated by Kristi Holohan of ACE Arts, Challenges of Champions features letters written by local teens to slain victims. Hand-painted, wooden sculptures - memorials to the 125 murder victims in 2008 - will also be displayed.

Earlier this year, Ms. Holohan told the Tribune she wanted the exhibit to get people "talking about their experiences of violence, to start thinking about solutions." To generate the art featured in this exhibit, ACE Arts set up workshops in neighborhoods plagued by violent crime, to help bring communities together in a positive way. The result was Challenges of Champions.

 

The exhibit appears on the Art Wall, on the 2nd floor of the Main Library, just outside the TeenZone. It will be up until December 23.
 
The Main Library is at 125 14th St. For information call 238-7233. 
 

The library provides free holiday events for kids and families in December.
 
The Jade Ribbon Youth Council from Stanford performs Peter and the Wolf at Asian Branch, on Saturday, December 5, at 11 a.m. The organization raises awareness of Hep B among Asians.  Asian Branch is at 388 9th St., Ste. 190. call 652-7826 for information.
 
At a number of branches kids can learn to make Popsicle Stick Frame Craft, for gifts that are handmade and from the heart. The schedule is as follows: 

At Temescal Branch, Puppet Art Theater presents a winter holiday version of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, preserving the essence of the original story while adding fun holiday twists. One performance only: Wednesday, December 16, 10:30 a.m. Temescal Branch is at 5205 Telegraph Ave. Call 597-5049 for information.
 
Lakeview Branch presents Hansel & Gretel on Thursday, December 17, at 1 p.m. Based on the famous Brothers Grimm folktale, this holiday favorite will be performed by the interactive musical theater group, Opera Piccola. Loads of fun for the whole family. Lakeview Branch is at 550 El Embarcadero. Call 238-7344 for information.  
 
Kids will have another opportunity to make winter crafts at the Main Library's Children's Room on Tuesday, December 22, from 3 to 5 p.m. Supplies and instruction will be provided for making ornaments, gifts, and other seasonal projects. The Main Library-Children's Room is at 125 14th St. Call 238-3615 for information.

Starting in January, several branch libraries will offer free workshops and seminars lead by local writers, in a new program called Oakland Word. Oakland Word is a creative writing and literacy program of the Oakland Public Library funded by a California State Library grant. The program sets out to provoke dialogue and encourage creativity, literacy and self-sufficiency by providing opportunities for youth and adults to write, publish and perform works about their lives. Workshop participants will have the unique opportunity to see their creative writing in print in an official Oakland Word publication. The program will continue until April 2010.

 

Information will be available at the Main Library mid-December, and an Oakland Word Website will be up in the next few weeks. Contact Kenji Liu at kliu@oaklandlibrary.org.

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