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MELBOURNE AIDS MEMORIAL QUILT

Other Names

HIV/AIDS QUILT ,  KEYWORD LGBTIQ+ ,  VICTORIAN AIDS MEMORIAL QUILT ,  AIDS MEMORIAL QUILT ,  AIDS QUILT

Location

31-51 COMMERCIAL ROAD, SOUTH YARRA,STONNINGTON CITY

Level

Registered

Statement of Significance

What is significant?
The Melbourne AIDS Memorial Quilt consisting of 209 quilt panels (sewn onto 27 fabric backing blocks typically in groups of eight) each made by a family member or volunteer from 1988 onwards to commemorate a person or group who died from an AIDS-related condition.

How is it significant?
The Melbourne AIDS Memorial Quilt is of historical and social significance to the State of Victoria. It satisfies the following criteria for inclusion in the Victorian Heritage Register:

Criterion A

Importance to the course, or pattern, of Victoria's cultural history.

Criterion D

Importance in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural places and objects.

Criterion G

Strong or special association with a particular present-day community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons.

Criterion H

Special association with the life or works of a person, or group of persons, of importance in Victoria’s history.

Why is it significant?
The Melbourne AIDS Memorial Quilt is historically significant as one of the most important artefacts of the AIDS crisis in Victoria. Each quilt panel represents a person who died from an AIDS-related condition and had an association to Melbourne or Victoria. Originally coordinated by volunteers working from the Fairfield Hospital from late 1988, each quilt was made by family members, loved ones or volunteers working within community groups, and is highly individualised to commemorate the life of the person. The Melbourne AIDS Memorial Quilt represents the community care, volunteerism and political activism associated with the AIDS crisis. [Criterion A]

The Melbourne AIDS Memorial Quilt is one of Victoria’s largest, most important and enduring pieces of community art. Part of the international AIDS memorial quilt movement, it represents a pivotal moment in the history of commemorative textile making in Victoria. It powerfully harnesses and transforms the centuries-old western tradition of quilt making – typically a woman’s artform – to allow thousands of people to express their collective grief and mourn together, particularly on World AIDS Day. The quilt is both highly personal and deeply political, and demonstrates the human dimensions of one of the late twentieth century’s most devastating epidemics. [Criterion D]

The Melbourne AIDS Memorial Quilt is iconic in Victoria and has a strong, special, and continuing association with particular social groups affected by the AIDS crisis and their families. This includes the LGBTIQ+ community –particularly gay and bisexual men – and other communities at risk such as blood transfusion recipients, IV drug users, men who have sex with men (MSM), and sex workers, as well as those who cared for and still mourn them. In addition to being displayed annually on World AIDS Day on 1 December, quilt panels are regularly exhibited around the state to raise awareness of the continuing impact of HIV/AIDS. The Melbourne AIDS Memorial Quilt still accepts quilt panels to commemorate people who die (or have died) from AIDS-related conditions. [Criterion G]

The Melbourne AIDS Memorial Quilt has a special association with people and communities affected by HIV/AIDS from the 1980s to the present day. They are an important part of Victoria’s history, and their experiences are evident in each quilt panel. The visual and evocative qualities of the quilt demonstrate the enduring impact of the epidemic on these communities. [Criterion H]

Group

Education

Category

Other - Education