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The power of quilting
DECEMBER 1ST IS WORLD AIDS DAY, WHICH AN OPPORTUNITY FOR PEOPLE WORLDWIDE TO UNITE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST HIV, TO SHOW SUPPORT FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV, AND TO COMMEMORATE THOSE WHO HAVE DIED FROM AN AIDS-RELATED ILLNESS.
Since the dawn of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the road to recognition and support has been hard fought and has come in various forms of activism. When we think about support and activism, food drops, protests and ‘sit ins’ are some of the first that come to mind. Yet one of the most powerful and moving displays of HIV/AIDS activism has come in the form of handmade quilts. Originally identified as a “gay disease” because gay men were one of the primary groups afflicted, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) targets the immune system and weakens people’s defence against infections. The most advanced stage of HIV infection is acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), which develops over many years if not treated, depending on the individual. When the HIV/AIDS crisis began in 1981, chaos and fear ripped through the fabric of the western world. Gay men, people who inject drugs, immigrants and racial minorities, were largely blamed for the epidemic. In the early days, particularly in the United States, government organisations were simply not interested in researching the disease or caring for the infected. It really was an awful time. Hospitals, doctors, schools, and families rejected the infected. People were driven out of their homes and excluded from society. Although the gay, lesbian and transgender communities created dynamic networks of self-help groups in response to the crisis, yet scores of people died impoverished and alone. Among the projects of activism that prevailed in the 1980’s, was the AIDS Memorial quilt project. The idea was conceived in San Francisco in 1985, by AIDS activist Cleve Jones. At that time many people who died of AIDS-related causes did not receive funerals, due to both the social stigma of AIDS felt by surviving family members and the outright refusal by many funeral homes and cemeteries to handle the deceased’s remains. Lacking a memorial service or grave site, the quilt was often the only opportunity survivors had to remember and celebrate their loved ones’ lives. On 11th October 1987, activists gathered 1,920 individual quilt panels, each roughly the size of the average grave and inscribed with the name of a person lost to AIDS, and laid them before the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The goal of the AIDS memorial quilt project was to bring awareness to how massive the AIDS pandemic really was, and to bring support and healing to those affected by it. The overwhelming response to the quilt’s inaugural display led to a four-month, 20city, national tour of the quilt in the spring and summer of 1988. The tour raised nearly $500,000 for hundreds of AIDS service organizations. More than 9,000 volunteers across the US helped display the quilt. Local panels were added in each city, tripling the quilt’s size to more than 6,000 panels by the end of the tour. To this day the AIDS memorial quilt is an epic 54-ton tapestry that includes nearly 50,000 panels dedicated to more than 105,000 individuals. It is the symbol of the AIDS pandemic, a living memorial to a generation lost to AIDS and an important HIV prevention education tool.
