Munching on water melon seeds while watching buffalos and chickens wander around – a seemingly normal and ideal lifestyle for a group of contemporary artists. But the serenity of suburban life is anything but normal or ideal for this group: Their neighbors all have HIV or AIDS.

The artists are tasked to explore and experience the daily lives of people living with HIV as part of a program designed to help them gain insight into the daily triumphs and challenges facing HIV patients, which they then translate into their artwork. The program, Charity: From Noun to Verb, assigns an artist to live with a family with an HIV-positive member in the suburbs of Guangxi, Yunnan and Shanxi. About 20 artists have joined since the program started earlier this year.

Now, their paintings and sculptures are on display in Beijing’s Caochangdi International Art Village. The exhibition, Absolute Distance, features 17 works that organizers hope will help to eradicate discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS.

“We hope this project has helped shed light on the topic in a unique way and will continue to lead to further support and understanding,” said Silvia Morimoto, deputy director of UN Development Program in China.

The exhibition opened Sunday with many advocates for HIV/AIDS awareness in attendance. Wu Zunyou of the National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention said HIV/AIDS patients should stand with their heads held high and to not feel inferior, while society should not discriminate against them.

"The discrimination is by no means good for HIV/AIDS patients," Wu said.

"We can notice the self-abasement of the child whose parents are HIV carriers," said Deng Hua, a participating artist.

"A girl from such a family dared not swim with her peers," Deng said, recounting one of his experiences. "Usually, she would keep a distance of 20 meters from others."