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Notes regarding exhibition and displays of the New Zealand Quilt Project, An AIDS Memorial within Manukau City Mall, Auckland.
This Archive is associated to the New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt creation.The New Zealand Quilt Project dates from 1988 to 2002, 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 have risen due to complacency brought about by the medication.
There are 16 quilt blocks in total, each consisting of 8 panels stitched together.