K014 The art4HD project: improving the life of HD families in vulnerable communities through art

<h3></h3> Factor-H is a humanitarian non-profit organization aiming at enhancing the quality of life of families in Latin America affected by Huntington’s disease (HD) and living in poverty. ART4HD is an umbrella project promoted and funded by Factor-H, using different forms of art as a powerful tool to raise awareness and inspire social changes in those vulnerable communities. For the project, Factor-H works with local artists to bring international attention to the small villages where those communities live. One of the Art4HD projects, ‘Street Art for HD’ is the first project aiming at raising awareness on HD through street art. The project is carried out with the collaboration of DJ Lu Juegasiempre a renowned street artist from Colombia. The program started in Colombia in 2019 and captured three main themes: the person affected with HD, the caregivers, and the children, whose lives are affected by the disease of a parent and the risk of having inherited the disease. DJLu Juegasiempre Lesivo, another Colombian artist, traveled to northern Colombia where the disease is endemic, to complete several murals honoring the lives and documenting the suffering of the HD families in this region. Factor-H also collaborates very closely with the Venezuelan photographer Vladimir Marcano, to document the lives of children at risk, supported under the Factor-H sponsored Kids project. Marcano carries out an outstanding project in which individual stories are woven into a broader story, showing the complexities and difficulties surrounding the lives of people with HD. Additional information about Factor-HD and the Art4HD project can be found at www.factor-h.org