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Erik Finck said he believes puppets provide a special means for artistic expression because they can represent anybody in any part of the world.

“(Puppetry) is a great medium because they are a really neutral ground. ... It can represent an (HIV/AIDS) infected person, a non-infected person,” said Finck, a second-year theater student.

Finck has been working with Anurupa Roy, a puppet master from India, and said he has come to find a new appreciation for the art and the canvas it provides as an educational tool.

There is no language barrier and there is an elegant symbolism behind the artistic qualities of the puppet, Roy said.

As one of two separate events about HIV/AIDS that will be held today, Roy will be hosting a performance that merges the cultural and artistic aesthetics of puppetry with the overall message of prevention of the endemic disease.

The other event, which will also be addressing HIV/AIDS education through art, is a dance performance featuring students from UCLA and the Los Angeles community.

Both events will be held by the UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures in conjunction with the Fowler Museum at UCLA, which is currently displaying the AIDS-related art work Keiskamma Altarpiece.

Hanni Rosenfeld, a WAC administrative assistant, said the purpose of the event is to make a connection with students about HIV/AIDS education that goes beyond the text-heavy lectures of a classroom.

“It’s an initial project that will lead into a stronger community building in Los Angeles. It’s incorporating education in performance,” Rosenfeld said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are approximately 38.6 million people worldwide living with the disease.

Though the two events will have similar messages, the performances are geared toward different audiences.

The dance performance, titled “Flesh and Blood,” is a performance that will specifically be presented to high school students in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The program is meant to connect high school students with the problems surrounding HIV/AIDS in both the United States and abroad, and Rosenfeld said students from schools in areas where sexually transmitted infections were more prevalent were chosen to be invited.

Later in the day, the department will also be sponsoring the puppet show, which will provide the same message regarding the fatal disease but in a different artistic mode.

The puppet performance, titled “Activist Puppetry Against AIDS,” is a finale to a series of workshops sponsored by Roy that explore the art of puppetry and its use as an educational tool.

Because of the visual elements behind a puppet performance, Roy said she believes there is a message that is more connective with the audience.

“It’s effective because it’s visual, there’s no real language barrier, and one can travel quite far with it. You can use symbols and metaphors, rather than characters and actors, and that is often very strong,” Roy said.

Both shows, Rosenfeld said, are related to the Keiskamma Altarpiece, which has been on display at the Fowler Museum since Jan. 10. The altarpiece, created by 130 rural South African women, is a piece “that recognized the loss they were dealing with because of HIV/AIDS.”

The high school students who were asked to attend “Flesh and Blood” were in areas where the altarpiece has previously been displayed and the puppets in the later performance mimic the characters found on the altarpiece.

“What the altarpiece has done is provide hope – looking at the future in the middle of death and loss and suffering,” Roy said.