New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt

This block is part of the New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt. The people remembered on this block include: Rick, Uncle Jack, Max Navarre, Al, Simon (panel made by Malcolm Harrison), Roy, Ian Williams (panel made by his partner Welby Ings), and Russell Robert Purves Wells (1949-89).

The New Zealand Quilt Project dates from 1988, and is part of a worldwide movement that grew from communities most affected by HIV and AIDS. Each quilt panel represents a person who died of AIDS, and was made by family members, partners and/or friends.

The Quilt concept originated in San Francisco in 1987 in response to the devastating impact of AIDS. Its intention was to raise awareness and enable loved ones to express feelings of love, loss and regret in a permanent and tangible way.

The quilt panels are moving, creative and positive memorials to those who died, and testaments to love and community support. Their presence and endurance reminds both of the need for remembrance and compassion, but also the need for continued awareness and education in response to HIV and AIDS. AIDS deaths have dropped in New Zealand because of medication, but HIV infections remain an ongoing concern.

There are 16 quilt blocks in total, most consisting of 8 panels stitched together.