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

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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