Russian artist locks himself in cupboard for 30 hours for World AIDS Day performance

A Russian artist has confined himself to a cupboard for 30 hours without food or drink as part of a performance marking World Aids Day.

St Petersburg-based activist Boris Konakov said that each hour spent in the cupboard would mark a year of the Russian AIDS epidemic. He has been livestreaming the performance, which is taking place in his own apartment, since 1am.

“People with HIV are forced to live ‘in the closet’ due to the levels of discrimination that they face. They’re afraid to lose their jobs or social contact,” Konakov wrote on Facebook.

“Any of you can stop this performance. It’s enough to simply ring the doorbell for my apartment. In the same way, any of you can stop this epidemic by finding out your HIV status and declaring your solidarity with HIV-positive people.

“How many more hours will I spend in this closet? How many more years will the HIV epidemic continue in Russia?”

Between 850,000 – 1.5 million people in Russia are HIV positive, according to 2016 data from the Russian Government and UN AIDS. The number of new cases has risen by 149 percent since 2006.