AIDS Quilt
From AIDS Wiki
The AIDS Memorial Quilt is a memorial to those whose have died of AIDS. It consists of more than 44,000 individual 3' by 6' quilt panels. These panels, each the size of a human grave, are assembled into 12' by 12' sections called "blocks". These blocks are displayed locally. The Quilt was last displayed in full on The Mall in Washington D.C. in October 1996.
Typically, a very personalized individual quilt panel is created by the loved ones of someone who has died of AIDS. Common techniques include patchwork, applique, embroidery, fabric painting, collage, spray paint and needlepoint. Common items and materials include fabrics, decorative items, clothing, personal effects, and personal belongings.
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History
The Quilt is maintained and displayed by The NAMES Project Foundation, which was founded in 1987 in San Francisco by Cleve Jones and a group of volunteers. At the time of its creation, most people who died of AIDS did not receive funerals and their remains were in fact refused by many funeral homes and cemeteries. Lacking a memorial service or grave site, The Quilt was often the only opportunity survivors had to remember and celebrate their loved ones' lives.
The Quilt was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 and is the largest community arts project in the world.
In June 2004, the newest blocks were displayed by the Foundation on The Ellipse in Washington D.C. in the largest display of The Quilt since it was last displayed in its entirety; these 1,000 blocks consisted of every panel submitted at or after the October 1996 display.
The NAMES Project Foundation is now headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia but has 21 chapters in the United States and more than 40 affiliate organisations worldwide.
Group psychological role
Casper Schmidt was one of the first people to point out the particular role of the Quilt in the group-fantasy aspects of AIDS. Schmidt compared the Quilt to the ritual sacrifices performed by the Aztec Empire:
When, during the Aztec Empire, the priests performed their ritual sacrifice — which they did a lot! — they would take the skulls of the victims, make holes in the temples and fix them onto long poles which they would string up in front of the big pyramid in such a way that whoever stood on top of the pyramid could look down as they imagined the gods would, and could count the skulls on a device called a tzompantli. They literally imagined the gods counting the sacrifices. When the people felt sufficient relief from their bad feelings, this would be conveyed to the High Priest who would then go up on the pyramid, commune with the gods, and declare that the gods have said 'Enough!' (Young 1997)
The purpose of the Quilt is to allow the gods to "count the sacrifices" in the AIDS epidemic, so they may decide when enough sacrifices have been made:
And this is what the Quilt is for AIDS. You display the Quilt, horizontally, to the gods so they can see when enough people have been sacrificed and send the message, 'Stop the sacrifice!' This is exactly the same as the tzompantli. You are displaying the equivalent of the skulls to the gods, so they can decide when there are enough. (Young 1997)
Documents and external links
- The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt: Images of the Quilt
- Casper Schmidt discusses the Quilt with Ian Young
- The Los Angeles Times reports the Quilt "Fading to Obscurity"
References
- ↑ Young, Ian, 1997. Interview with Casper Schmidt.
- ↑ Ibid.
Credit
 | This page uses content from the NAMES_Project_AIDS_Memorial_Quilt article on Wikipedia, captured on 13 Dec 2005. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with the AIDS Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |
