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This paper puts forward an argument in favour of careful and critical analysis of culture in formulating communication strategies with and for specific groups, based on experience drawn from the Clown Project in Guatemala and other countries in Central America. The Clown Project uses labour-intensive face-to-face street theatre and dialogue, participatory workshops, and symbolic communication such as print-based material to reach those most vulnerable to the spread and impact of HIV and AIDS . The analysis takes into account relations of power within and between vulnerable groups, examining the centre-periphery dynamic between classes, genders, ethnicities, age groups, and other social identities. Both appropriately supported insider perspectives and appropriately processed outsider knowledge are recommended, along with ways of bridging science and the field, theory and practice