But......for me, what brought the whole weekend home, was, once again, viewing the AIDS Memorial Quilt. Several panels were on display during the Keep The Promise rally on Sunday, but on Monday, the official start of a weeklong global AIDS conference in Washington, DC, a much larger portion of the quilt was laid out on the Capitol Mall.
I have seen pieces in San Francisco, and I have seen pieces in Miami, but I have never seen this much of the quilt on display at any one time, and even this large installation was a fraction of the 48,000 panels created by friends and loved ones, lovers, husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, and children of those who lost the battle with AIDS.
Had a panel been made for all those who died from complications of AID--through 2008--in the US alone, the Quilt would comprise 617.000 panels. There are roughly 34 million people around the world living with HIV. Think about that Quilt as you look at the pictures.
The AIDS Quilt is a visually striking monument, a movable monument, and it's impossible not to stand in front of it, reading the names of total strangers, without crying. For me, what I felt this time seeing it, was a vast sense of loss. I saw so many names of men who were born the same year as I, yet whose lives ended over twenty years ago.
There but for the grace of God.......
So, I'd like to share some picture from the quilt. Most panels are three-feet by six-feet, though some are larger; most panels have one name on them, though some have many; some panels are elaborate works or art, while others are actual quilts, with remembrances of those who've already gone on, and some are simple and barren and sparse.
And yet each one is as powerful and moving and thought-provoking as the last one and the next one.
Here's the Quilt, and the hope that one day there won't be any additional panels....
.JPG)
for more information The Names Project--The AIDS Memorial Quilt
I saw a large portion of the AIDS quilt about 20 years ago when it made its way to Oklahoma City, something I'm glad that I took the time to see.
ReplyDeleteamazing visual.
ReplyDeleteI was very fortunate to see this at a young age
ReplyDeleteThe Aids Memorial Quilt brought many to tears when it was displayed in DC in the late 1980's. I think it was 1988 when I first saw it. Back then it was likely that we all knew someone who had died recently. Walking among the panels was an almost religious experience.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately now, AIDS does not make the news. The current display of the quilt in DC did not make the national news here, unless I missed it.
If you see any of the porn clips on the net, barebacking is quite common - and most are young. It's as if AIDS and HIV have just gone away.
It's good to know there are still conferences and people dedicated to AIDS prevention and education.
http://reluctantrebel.blogspot.com/2011/12/world-aids-day-retrospective.html
My friends and I visited the Quilt the last time it was laid out on the mall. None of use had yet to loose a loved one to AIDS but were over whelmed not just by the quilt but also by the visitors.
ReplyDeleteWe couldn't stay long - it was too much. We went back the next day in the morning for a short while and then later. We needed the time to fully absorb what we were experiencing.
We had a similar experience at the National Holocaust museum. These monuments are so vast it is impossible to take them all in at one time.