UK AIDS Memorial Quilt Display

In partnership with UK AIDS Memorial Quilt Partnership, WX will display the piece from 4-7 June.

All 43 blocks will be displayed at WX and selected individual panels in various locations around the city. Also on display at WX will be the recently rediscovered documentary film There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, about the 1994 Hyde Park display of the Quilt.

The UK AIDS Memorial Quilt consists of 43 quilts and 24 individual panels, representing over 500 individuals lost to HIV and AIDS. It is part of the world’s largest community art project, started in the USA in 1985 by activist Cleve Jones, commemorating friends, family and loved ones lost to AIDS. Individual panels were stitched together to create larger quilts, which were then shown outdoors as a form of protest to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS.

Seven UK HIV support charities formed the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt Partnership in 2014 to conserve and display the quilt. Today it stands as an important reminder of those who were lost and of the fact that HIV and AIDS continue to affect people and communities today. 

To find out more information on individual panels please visit: Gallery - UK AIDS Memorial Quilt

Special Late Night Opening

Friday 5 June, 10am - 10:30pm

There will be a special late night opening of the exhibition on Friday.

Reading

Saturday 6 June, 2:30pm 

In response to this important moment in the story of the Quilt, northern poet and novelist Andrew McMillan is writing a poem that he will present in public for the first time at the 'Reading of the Names' of those commemorated in the Quilt.

Workshops

Saturday 6 - Sunday 7 June, 10am-4pm

Head over to The Factory for a series of workshops for all ages.

Free HIV Testing & Advice

Friday 5 June, 12:30-3:30pm & Saturday 6 June, 12pm-5pm

Free HIV testing and advice will be provided by BHA and Spectrum at Wakefield Exchange, in Unit 5 on Union Street.

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Partner Venues

Over the same dates, selected individual panels will be displayed at partner venues around the district, allowing a wider audience to uncover their rich history and significance.

In Wakefield City Centre, venues include The Hepworth Wakefield, Theatre Royal Wakefield, The Art House, and LonGBoat CIC’s Kirkgate Station Community Gallery.

Further afield, visitors can explore the panels at Anglers Country Park, Pontefract Castle, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Castleford Queens Mill, and the Maurice Dobson Museum in Darfield, Barnsley. 

Opening hours at these venues vary so check before traveling. 

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Partner Events 

Print, Stitch & Solidarity

Sunday 7 June, 10:30am-3pm, The Art House WF1 2TE

The Art House will be hosting free drop-in screen printing sessions, where visitors are invited to create their own printed posters or fabric squares. 

Find out more: Print, Stitch & Solidarity | Experience Wakefield