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The AIDS Memorial Quilt is an enormous quilt made as a memorial to and celebration of the lives of people who have died of AIDS.
The Quilt is maintained and displayed by the NAMES Project Foundation and was started in 1987 in San Francisco by Cleve Jones and a group of volunteers. The Quilt was last displayed in full on The Mall in Washington D.C. in 1996.
Over 48,000 individual panels commemorating a loved one have so far been made by relatives, friends or neighbors making up the 5,685 12' by 12' sections of the Quilt today. (A section of the Quilt measures 12' by 12' and usually contains 8 individual panels.)
Techniques used included patchwork, applique, embroidery, fabric painting, collage, spray paint and needlepoint
Items and materials included in the panels:
- Fabrics, e.g. lace, suede, leather, mink, taffeta, also bubble-wrap and other kinds of plastic.
- Decorative items like pearls, quartz crystals, rhinestones, sequins, feathers, buttons.
- Clothing, e.g. jeans, T-shirts, gloves, boots, hats, uniforms.
- Items of a personal nature, such as human hair, cremation ashes, wedding rings, Merit Badges, car keys.
- Unusual items, e.g. stuffed animals, records, jockstraps, condoms.
The NAMES Project is now headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia but has 21 chapters in the United States and more than 40 affiliate organisations world-wide. The Quilt itself continues to grow, with over 40 new sections added in June 2004.
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