Abstract
Though initiated by Cleve Jones, it is amazing to realize that the whole evolving project is actually authorless, having neither a fixed design and designer which makes it very personal and yet owned by the whole community.
However, with the initial and central goal of raising the awareness on the impact of AIDS, the quilt project’s social value has continued to be realized: The project provides a creative visual symbol of remembrance for those affected by the disease, to honor those who have died in AIDS and remember their names, to provide a starting point for AIDS education and action, and to promote a greater understanding of the effect that AIDS has on all our lives.
And though, the panels were made to create an emotional connection, created to remember the lost, a place to celebrate and to weep, the panels have slowly become platforms- the record of voices raised in a forum of which the ‘dead’ can still have their say.
According to the Microsoft Encarta Dictionary (2009), a memorial can be formally defined as a commemorative object or event that is intended to remind people of somebody who has died or an event in which people died. It is an emotional reminder of an event in the past common to people’s experiences. A memorial is for the people.
Having researched about the Aids memorial quilt, I was intrigued by how big this project really seemed and yet a lot of people have not really heard about it or have known of its social impact. The memorial is currently at 48,000 panels of individually designed quilts displayed to celebrate the lives of people who died in AIDS-related causes.
The quilt memorial was conceived really to celebrate the lives lost in the AIDS pandemic. With each 3’x6’ quilt panels representing a life lost. How this project became successful was because of how people felt the connection with quilts at a time when people who died with AIDS could not receive a funeral, and even a memorial service, and only the quilts were the opportunity survivors could remember their loved ones. (Laderman, 2003)
The connection between the people and the subject of exposure which is the disease AIDS is then established through the symbolism of the quilt. The memorial, through being a community folk art aims to bring awareness to how massive the AIDS pandemic was and is. And it could be said that it had accomplished its goal, the greater community felt it, recognitions came from different people and groups, and ultimately funds came in to support AIDS education and prevention.
For every memorial then, there is a central message that needs to be delivered, to the people most affected, even to those in control of state policies, and to the different groups in our society. In this case, it is how great the extent of impact AIDS has in our society. “Action speaks louder than words”, “A picture is worth a thousand words”, are just some of the very common phrases describing the means by which social advocacy through art is shaping our community.
The social and political impact of this memorial quilt project can never be fully measured, it is an evolving art which continues to influence other communities to initiate such similar project as well. Today, the quilt project is a growing memorial, with different quilts sent in from over 40 countries around the world. It is a powerful monument to the impact of AIDS and to the extent of people affected by it around the globe.
How art can bring public awareness to a greater number of audiences is portrayed in this memorial piece. Considered by many as one of the great memorials of our time and history’s most powerful tools of political art, this massive collection of quilts unites the different threads of society through participatory art, in which every participant is a close friend or relative of the deceased AIDS victim.
Though initiated by Cleve Jones, it is amazing to realize that the whole evolving project is actually authorless, having neither a fixed design and designer which makes it very personal and yet owned by the whole community.
In any event, what characterizes the clear political witness of this art, is the degree to which social and political statements are not only personalized but also personified (Hawkins, 2013). With each panel bearing the name of a deceased, bespeaking an individual life, it is impossible for even abstract figures on panels to remain abstract. Here, the message of the numbing sense of loss and the colorful variety of panels creates the sense of the irreplaceability of personal lives. Though massive and beautiful in its collective sum, the beauty is seen in its individual parts.
With the initial and central goal of raising the awareness on the impact of AIDS, the quilt project’s social value has continued to be realized: The project provides a creative visual symbol of remembrance for those affected by the disease, to honor those who have died in AIDS and remember their names, to provide a starting point for AIDS education and action, and to promote a greater understanding of the effect that AIDS has on all our lives.
And though, the panels were made to create an emotional connection, created to remember the lost, a place to celebrate and to weep, the panels have slowly become platforms- the record of voices raised in a forum of which the ‘dead’ can still have their say.
References
- Hawkins, Peter. The Art of Memory and the NAMES Project AIDS Quilt. University of Chicago Press. Web. 15, Mar. 2013
- “The South African AIDS Memorial Quilt. The NAMES Project. Web. 14, Mar. 2013
- Memorial. In Microsoft Encarta (2009) [software].Retrieved March 14, 2013. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation.
