AIDS Quilt

The AIDS Quilt on display at the National Mall in Washington, DC The AIDS Quilt visual display is organized and maintained by the NAMES Project to honor and memorialize those who have died from AIDS.   Creator Cleve Jones of San Francisco was inspired by protestors pasting the names of persons who had died from AIDS on the walls of the Federal Building during a gay rights demonstration  in 1986, and later that year started the Quilt with a single panel.  The Quilt was first displayed at the National Mall in Washington in 1987, and now consists of over 44,000 panels bearing the names of men, women, and children who have died from the disease, each decorated with special symbols of that person's unique and irreplaceable life.  An average of 50 new panels are added each week, with eight panels sewn together to make a 12x12 foot section. Sections of the Quilt are displayed at various locations throughout the US, with the Quilt displayed in its entirety at special events in Washington.  A searchable image database of Quilt panels is also avaliable online.  A new permanent home for the Quilt was opened in Atlanta on 2 December, 2003.  In 1989, a new memorial Quilt was begun in Canada to honor Canadians who had died from AIDS, with 500 panels added as of this writing.  Thirty-five other countries now have their own AIDS Quilt projects.  In addition to honoring those felled by AIDS, the Quilts also serve to maintain public awareness of the disease, and also to help fund research towards finding new treatments, a vaccine, and a cure. Links: AIDS Memorial Quilt Site The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt AIDS Quilt Panel Image Database AIDS/HIV Resource Center - The AIDS Memorial Quilt The NAMES Project - Canada / Le projet des NOMS - Canada AIDS Memorial Quilt Store   KeywordTitleAuthor