Largest-Ever Display of UK AIDS Memorial Quilt Opens at Tate Modern

This week, the Tate Modern’s vast Turbine Hall becomes a site of remembrance and awareness of the ongoing AIDS pandemic as it hosts the largest-ever display of the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt. Running until 16 June, the installation – comprising 42 quilts and 23 individual panels – commemorates 384 lives lost to AIDS, each one stitched by the people who loved them.

Though sections of the quilt have been displayed over the years – including at Hyde Park and St Paul’s Cathedral – this is the first time the UK quilt has been shown in its entirety since 1994. It marks a powerful return for one of the largest community art projects in the world.

The quilt project began in San Francisco in 1985 as a grassroots response to the AIDS crisis, led by American activist Cleve Jones. Scottish campaigner Alastair Hume brought the idea to the UK after seeing an early US display. The UK quilts, many of which were shown in public spaces throughout the 1990s, became both memorial and megaphone – putting names and stories to a crisis often met with silence or stigma.

Today, seven HIV support charities form the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt Partnership, working to conserve and share the quilts with new generations. ​“The purpose of our partnership is to have the Quilt seen as often as possible,” said Siobhán Lanigan, from the group. ​“This display is the biggest showing in the UK’s history – and each viewing brings the lives commemorated out of the shadow of stigma.”

Karin Hindsbo, Tate Modern’s Director, called the quilt ​“an incredible feat of creative human expression,” and says visitors can expect ​“a deeply moving experience.” The display also includes a newly unearthed 1995 documentary There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, featuring footage of the Hyde Park exhibition alongside appearances from Boy George, Neneh Cherry, Michael Hutchence, and others. Lost for nearly 30 years, it premieres in the Starr Cinema as part of the exhibition.

Live name readings, performances from the London Gay Men’s Chorus, quilt-making workshops, and guided audio-description tours will take place throughout the week. On 14 June, poet Bakita Kasadha will open a special reading ceremony with a poem, followed by choral performances in the hall.

Health Minister Baroness Merron said ​“The AIDS Memorial Quilt is a powerful and moving tribute to those we’ve lost, and a reminder of the ongoing fight against HIV. Displaying it at Tate Modern will help raise awareness and challenge stigma. This government is fully committed to ending new HIV transmissions in England by 2030. Our upcoming HIV Action Plan will focus not just on prevention and testing, but also on helping people live well with HIV, tackling inequalities and improving support for all affected.”

The UK AIDS Memorial Quilt is being displayed at the Tate Modern from 12 – 16 June.

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