London’s Wellcome Collection spotlights 1980s-90s AIDS epidemic in moving exhibition
Audiences will be transported to the frontlines of HIV/AIDS activism and care, moving from the UK epidemic of the 1980s–90s to the Global South
By Aaron Sugg
Wellcome Collection has announced its latest archival exhibition, titled Tenderness and Rage, with six first-look images exploring the lives impacted by the 1980s–90s AIDS epidemic.
The evocative display will be available to the public free of charge from 29 May 2026 until 30 May 2027 at the Wellcome Collection museum in London.
Audiences will be transported to the frontlines of HIV/AIDS activism and care, moving from the UK epidemic of the 1980s–90s to contemporary experiences of living with HIV in the Global South.
“The voices presented in Tenderness and Rage highlight the vital role of activism” – Tenderness and Rage curator Adam Rose on the AIDS epidemic exhibition
Through photography, film, archival material and personal stories, Tenderness and Rage moves beyond the narrative of a stigmatised disease to celebrate how activist groups and volunteer organisations fought for the dignity, health and rights of people living with HIV.
Tenderness and Rage curator Adam Rose said in a news release: “Wellcome Collection aims to give voice to health experiences that have been overlooked.”
“In surfacing lesser-known stories of those living with AIDS or HIV, the voices presented in Tenderness and Rage highlight the vital role of activism and intimacy in asking uncomfortable questions of those in power and advocating for dignity, rights and healthcare,” Rose concluded.
Who are ACT UP London?
A major focus of the exhibition is the activist group ACT UP London, whose grassroots protests between 1989 and 1993 were photographed by Gordon Rainsford. The group originated to challenge HIV stigma and demand better access to treatment through direct action, and continues to campaign against stigma and funding cuts today.
Photographer Gideon Mendel’s series The Ward (1993) documents patients in AIDS wards at Middlesex Hospital, highlighting the raw and brutal realities faced by young gay men confronting terminal illness before effective treatments existed.
The exhibition also includes work from Through Positive Eyes, a collaborative online photo-storytelling initiative that gives people living with HIV a platform to share their stories.
What to expect from the Tenderness and Rage exhibition?
Led by the University of California, Los Angeles Art & Global Health Center and Gideon Mendel, the project spans multiple continents and has involved more than 200 participants affected by the epidemic worldwide.
The display highlights the often overlooked experiences of women, particularly migrant and global-majority women.
Through displays featuring Catwalk4Power and the 4M Network of Mentor Mothers Living with HIV, audiences are encouraged to reflect on how the disease does not discriminate, despite HIV/AIDS being widely stigmatised as affecting gay men during the 1980s–90s epidemic.
For more information on the Tenderness and Rage AIDS epidemic exhibition at Wellcome Collection, please visit the official website.