Swilk, a queer Oakland-based weaver and installation artist, invites the community to the Internet Archive for a special show: an immersive art exhibit that breathes life into historic HIV artifacts. The piece, titled When you’re looking for something, it’s important to know who was in love, invites the public to connect the modern world to a history that was almost lost.

The Archive hosts thousands of historic HIV/AIDS documents and web resources in its collection. These weavings are programmed to respond whenever one of the resources compiled for this project are uploaded, downloaded, or saved. As the public interacts with this history, the motors fire, making the weaving breathe and pulse. Most of these resources, and the voices that filled them, have since been scrubbed, or altered off the internet.

The 80s and 90s were fraught with the suppression of lifesaving AIDS resources. When the internet became public, this all changed. Activists for the first time could distribute information without needing permission from distributors. Those isolated could find other people with a positive diagnosis and cope in community with one another. The internet played a critical role in HIV/AIDS activism, and as it slowly disappears from the world and the web, the Internet Archive has been instrumental in holding onto this history.

Swilk’s work highlights the importance of the modern world connecting with our queer history, and invites the audience to reflect on its relevance today. 

“I grew up queer in an environment that taught me that to have HIV was a death sentence. It took me years to find the queer history of the HIV epidemic. It took me longer to learn about options like PreP. The more I learned about my history, and those that came before me, the more at home I felt in myself. This history, and the actions of those that made it, have bolstered my safety in the world at large.”

When you’re looking for something, it’s important to know who was in love will be shown in the Great Room, the Internet Archive’s repurposed chapel space, on November 9, 2024 from 7pm-9pm. The event is free and open to the public. Music and food provided.  Limited edition screen prints will be made at the reception, people are invited to bring paper and fabrics to print on.

About Swilk: 

Swilk is an Oakland-based weaver who has exhibited work around the world. They are a Genderqueer artist whose work centers queer history and the emotional experience of home. Their work has been exhibited and awarded in a number of spaces, including the CICA Museum in South Korea, Barcelona’s El Poblenou District, and a number of international artist residencies. They are the winner of the Featured Public Project grant for the world’s largest open arts competition (ArtPrize 2022).