Today is 1 December, World AIDS Day. It is a day when the world advocates for the prevention and treatment of AIDS—and encourages scientific research to achieve those worthy goals. World AIDS Day was established by the World Health Organization in 1988 with the intent of recognizing the scourge of AIDS, commemorating those who have died from it, and supporting those who live with it.
While much of the world commemorates World AIDS Day today, (the current) U.S. leadership has instructed government officials to cut AIDS research funding and to not acknowledge the observance publicly. Somehow, they assert, America does not care about AIDS.
However, one country's failure does not eradicate the rest of the world's good intentions. World AIDS Day goes-on—without America—and it will continue to go-on long after current malefactors have been disposed. Here at LEO Design, we do remember those who have died of AIDS (over 44 million worldwide) and long for the day when America addresses serious problems responsibly and scientifically. Pope LEO XIV marked World AIDS Day by calling for "solidarity and action" to fight the disease—as Popes Francis and Benedict XVI have done before him.
Shown above, a West German Modernist vase by Carstens. Its oil jar form is first glazed in warm black, over which a red overglaze drips down from the vase's shoulder. It provides a handsome (and heartfelt) remembrance of those who have died of the deadly scourge. Click on the photo above to learn more about it.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
To arrange a visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only), please call 917-446-4248.