Portions of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt will be on display Friday in the Culp Center Auditorium lobby from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Weighing over 52 tons, the quilt consists of 45,000 panels. Each panel represents someone who has died of AIDS. Twelve blocks of these panels will be on display in the lobby.
“The panels are constructed by family, friends and loved ones of people who have died of AIDS,” Brandon Hutchison said.
Sometimes pictures of the deceased, clothing or wedding rings are sewn on the panels to show that this person was loved and is deeply missed.
A man who wanted to create a living memorial for AIDS victims developed the idea of creating the quilt in San Francisco in 1987.
Working with the East Tennessee chapter of NAMES, located in Knoxville, co-sponsors of the event include Lambda Society, Office of Multicultural Affairs and Black Affairs Association.
“Knoxville has 240 panels,” Hutchison said. “We will have 96 of those displayed here at ETSU.”
In 1995, it cost $6,000 to bring a section of the quilt to ETSU. This year it will only cost $1,000 due to the collaboration with the local NAMES chapter. The event will be free.
NAMES is a non-profit organization which depends on money to maintain the quilt.
“It costs approximately $100 a panel each year to properly care for the quilt,” Hutchison said.
This year’s theme for the quilt is “All Men – Make a Difference!” This is a call for all men to be responsible for their actions and their own personal health.
“People in this area feel that they are not at risk to catch the HIV virus because they are not in a high-risk group,” Hutchison said. High-risk groups include gay men, IV drug users and African Americans.
“AIDS is a disease that kills: there is no cure, there is no vaccine and it does not discriminate,” Hutchison said.
The purpose of this display is to show people that the AIDS epidemic is not over. HIV and AIDS are in local communities and campuses around the area and country.
Powerpoint displays will be shown at the event on Friday to teach people about HIV and AIDS and the history of the quilt ,and to focus on the South African quilt and how it is used in that country.
South Africa is one of the countries hardest hit with HIV. As many as one in four people in South Africa are infected with HIV.
For more information visit www.aidsquilt.com.
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