Summary

Advertising poster printed in yellow and white on black, promoting the 2001 'AIDS Memorial Candlelight Vigil and Remembrance Ceremony' on 7 October at the Melbourne Museum plaza and the 'AIDS Memorial Quilt Display' on the same day at the Royal Exhibition Building, Carlton Gardens.

The ceremony was supported by supported by organisations including GlazoSmithKline, DBoy Productions, City of Port Phillip, Melbourne Museum, Whites/Law Bindery, JOY Melbourne 90.7 FM.

According to the National Association of People Living with AIDS, the Vigil began as an impromptu march by gay men in San Francisco on 2 May 1983, along the route gay rights activists had used to protest the 1978 murder of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California. The men carried candles in memory of those who had died. They were joined by hundreds along the way in a show of support. The march protested inaction by the government, indifference of the media and public homophobia. Before the end of that year, memorial marches and ceremonies had begun to spread around the world.

In Australia, the date for Candlelight Vigils was changed from the international day in May to 1 December - World AIDS day - principally due to weather, according to Colin Krycer (for many years organizer of the Candlelight Vigil and AIDS Quilt ceremonies in Melbourne).

The poster is part of a Museums Victoria collection documenting the material culture of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities in Victoria. In 2005 the Museum joined with the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives and the State Library of Victoria to conduct a survey of GLBT material culture in public and private collections in Victoria. Refer Kate Davison (2006), Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, Transgender Material Survey: Project Report 2006.

Physical Description

Poster printed in yellow and white on a black background. Extensive text. A series of outlined vertical and horizontal rectangles, extending from the upper right, appear under the text.

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