‘Living and Dying’, in the Wellcome Trust Gallery at the British Museum, explores the diverse ways in which people seek to minimise life's adversities. The exhibition, which recently won a Museums and Heritage Show 2004 Award for Excellence for best permanent exhibition, features works from all over the world, including this striking anti-AIDS poster from Tanzania.

Many millions have died of AIDS worldwide since it was first identified, and millions more are still being infected each year. Most victims live in the world's poorest countries. In Tanzania, AIDS (ukimwi) is primarily transmitted heterosexually and is the major cause of death for people aged between 15 and 49.

The stigma attached to AIDS makes it difficult for people to admit that they are infected, promoting even wider spread of the disease. Education programmes, community workshops and poster campaigns aim to make it easier to discuss and practise safe sex. In a search for treatment, people with HIV may seek help within their own immediate community or turn to possible solutions offered beyond it.

This painting shows the entertaining (but safe) effects of distributing free Salama condoms. It was painted by Isa Saidi Mitole, an artist of the Tingatinga Cooperative Society, the group of artists started by Edward Saidi Tingatinga (1932–1972). Their style derives from Ethiopian painting and typically comments on contemporary Tanzanian life.

The Wellcome Trust Gallery, at the north end of the Great Court, is the centrepiece of the British Museum’s permanent ethnography displays. Admission to the gallery is free.