"Box of Pandora" , by Erik Pevernagie, oil on canvas, 66 x 88 cm

When Pandora opened the notorious box, she expected it would contain gifts. Instead, it enclosed evil and plagues.

For many years now, many people have opened another kind of box: the box of love, which contains a disastrous evil: Aids. When hearing about this evil, it was like a shot in the dark.

They had not been aware of any impending danger and had not known that “something wicked their way was coming”.

Pandora’s Box contained, along with plague and evil, also another element : namely hope.

For aids-stricken people hope is a luminous aspect. Hope can make life more bearable.Hope always comes after evil has done its work. We cannot keep living on hope, though.

If medical research is making better progress, the future will certainly look brighter.

Any couple opening suspicious boxes should be aware that safety measures have to be taken. Since danger is lurking , many take recourse to marriage as a "life insurance" and consider it as a "solid investment", like gold.

Phenomenon: Aids

Factual starting point of the picture: women