Summary

Square white badge with quilt-style image made up of smaller images, and inscription ''Names Project, AIDS Memorial Quilt'. Made in 1993, it commemorates the 15th anniversary of the march on Washington in 1987. Collected during the 2005-2006 Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay Transgender Collections Survey, a joint project between Museums Victoria, State Library of Victoria and the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives.

The Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt Project was founded in Sydney in 1988 by Andrew Carter and Richard Johnson, and formally launched on World AIDS day, 1 December. The founding 35 quilt panels were displayed with visiting panels from the American Names Project, of which it is part. The Names Project came about in the mid-1980s, when cardboard placards were displayed like a patchwork in memory of people who had died of AIDS at a Candlelight March. Participant Cleve Jones wanted to use the patchwork concept to make a more enduring memorial. The Quilt project was launched in 1987, and had grown to over 25,000 panels by 2009. The project Quilt has spread to more than 27 countries around the world.

In Australia and beyond, the project has become a valuable resource for the promotion of a compassionate and educational dialogue about AIDS. It graphically illustrates the human side of the AIDS epidemic. The Quilt Project is a national registered charity with branches in most states and territories. (Australian AIDS Quilt project)

The 1987 'March on Washington', to which the badge refers, relates to the first display of quilts outside the Washington, DC, in 1987, by which time it had grown to 1,920 panels, covering an area over two football fields in size. Half a million visitors saw the Quilt before it embarked on a national tour.

Physical Description

Square white badge with quilt-style image made up of smaller images such as a hand with needle and thread, a heart and an eye. Inscriptions above and below in black. Silver metal with printed surface, with safety pin fastener adhered to back through two holes in grey cardboard backing.

Significance

Collected during the Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay Transgender Collections Survey, a joint project between Museum Victoria, State Library of Victoria and the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives in 2005-2006. The project aimed for 'improved knowledge, representation and interpretation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender material in public collections. It aimed to promote the development of strategies for encouraging discussion and awareness of homosexuality in the mainstream community. It also aimed to begin to provide lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Victorians with a sense of inclusion in the broader story of our heritage. The survey has provided an opportunity for the celebration of political and social achievements, and recognition of the tenets of equal opportunity and human rights for all Victorians.' (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Material Survey Project Report, Kate Davison, 2006).
These documents provide an important record of community activity within and beyond the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities in Victoria in the period 2005-2006. They show a breadth of activities, including tours, exhibitions, research projects and political movements, across organisations ranging from the AIDS Care Association to the Midsumma Festival.

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