New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt

This block is part of the New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt. 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. Stitching a panel was a form of social activism and resistance against forgetting.

The New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt dates from 1988, and this block is one of 16 blocks that constitute the New Zealand Quilt. Most blocks consist of eight panels stitched together. Each panel represents a person or group of people who died of AIDS. They were made by family members, partners, friends and communities.

The panels are moving, creative and positive memorials to those who died, and testaments to love and community support. Their presence and endurance are reminders of the need for remembrance and compassion, but also the need for continued awareness and education in response to HIV and AIDS.

The people remembered in this block include (clockwise): Jhon Baker, Jamie McRae (9 Feb 1965 - 7 Oct 1992), 'No Tears in Heaven' panel (made in the Wairarapa in 1993), Eddie Thompson-Shaw (1951 – 3 April 1993), Dr Buddy Brandt (9 April 1943 – 16 Nov 1990), Alex French (27 Feb 1960 – 25 Jan 1994), Lynn, Buddy (David Richards) (1962-1990).

The New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt and accompanying archive were gifted to Te Papa in 2011.