Later this year, a monumental quilt commemorating those who lost their lives to AIDS in Britain will be showcased publicly at Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall in London.
Originating in the 1980s during the peak of the epidemic, the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt was designed to bring attention to the disease and to honor the individuals who passed away from it. By the close of 2011, over 20,335 people with HIV had succumbed to the virus in the UK.
The initiative was inspired by the American AIDS Quilt, which began in 1987 under the guidance of human rights activist Cleve Jones. Scottish activist Alistair Hume encountered Jones in San Francisco, saw the US quilt, and decided to establish a UK chapter from his home base in Edinburgh.
After being displayed in the late ’80s and early ’90s, the quilt was subsequently stored away. Its most recent exhibition was at the European AIDS conference at the ExCeL centre in London in 2021.
This summer marks the quilt’s debut at a prominent UK cultural venue when it is hung in the Turbine Hall from June 12 to 16.
Charlie Porter, a fashion critic and writer who contributed to the Tate exhibition, referenced his use of quilt imagery in his novel Nova Scotia House, describing the experience of being near it as profoundly humbling.
“There is a history of showcasing the quilt in significant places to drive home the message about HIV/AIDS. Laying it out in Hyde Park was iconic, and there’s no more iconic site in the UK than the Turbine Hall,”…
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Publish date : 2025-04-08 07:33:00
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