South Africa has been at the centre of the global HIV and TB response both as a country that has experienced the profound human and public-health impact of these epidemics, and as a significant site of research, clinical innovation and community-led response. Over several decades, partners have contributed to advancing understanding of HIV and TB, developing and testing new approaches to prevention, diagnosis and treatment, and translating scientific advances into interventions with real-world impact. This history represents a story of science, innovation, persistence and human ingenuity.

Zero Is Greater is conceived within this context. It invites audiences to reflect on how far South Africa has come, what innovation has made possible, what gaps remain, and what it will take to get to zero.

The exhibition is hosted in partnership with Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, which brings its own weight to the story Zero Is Greater tells. Once the Old Fort prison complex, a site that held Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and thousands of others under apartheid, it was chosen in 1995 as the home of South Africa's Constitutional Court and reopened as a heritage precinct and living museum of the country's journey from repression to democracy. In 2024 it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Hosting Zero Is Greater at a site already built around themes of transformation, justice and what is possible after hardship reinforces the exhibition's own message: that progress against HIV and TB, like the constitutional order itself, has been hard-won and is still being built.

The Gates Foundation has worked alongside South African partners for more than 25 years, supporting the development of new HIV and TB drugs, diagnostics and vaccines and the delivery of proven prevention and treatment programmes. Several of the innovations referenced in the exhibition have drawn on that support, and Zero Is Greater situates these contributions within a much larger South African story of scientific leadership, activism and community response, one in which the Foundation is a partner and an ally. 

The exhibition sits inside a four-week activation programme spanning artist engagement, media, marketing, creator and partner engagement, education, events and legacy, coordinated to leave a meaningful legacy after it closes.

The exhibition's story is told primarily through newly commissioned artworks. Artists have been selected through an open call, with a final group of seven artists commissioned to create the work, chosen because they are grounded in the South African context and bring a lived understanding of HIV and TB to the brief. 

The artworks are structured around a four-part arc: Connect, Progress, Possibility and Imagination. Each stage builds on the last, moving visitors from an emotional point of connection through evidence of what has already changed, to the promise of what could still change, and finally to open-ended imagination of a future where HIV and TB are no longer defining forces in South African life.

• Connect: HIV and TB impact millions of South Africans each year, resulting in about 80,000 deaths. What if instead there could be 80,000 futures?
• Progress: Change is possible because it has happened. South Africa has made, and continues to make, remarkable progress on HIV and TB as partnerships, tools and communities come together.
• Possibility: New and emerging tools could accelerate progress and put “Zero” within reach. The work of the Gates Foundation and its partners has been central to creating this possibility.
• Imagination: Artists and visitors consider what a future where Zero Is Greater could mean for South Africa.

Artists Featured (From the top left): Siyababa Atelier | Serai Lobelo | Lebogang Mabusela | Lazi Mathebula | Sicelo Nene | Dr Ayobola Kekere-Ekun & Amy-Leigh Braaf.

The exhibition includes a school’s programme for high school learners, run alongside the main exhibition through the six-week activation.

This comprises one school visit per week through the run, targeting Grades 10–12. Each visit pairs a guided tour of Constitution Hill with an interactive learning activity tied to the exhibition's themes. To stay updated with the upcoming exhibition details - follow Constitution Hill.