Quilts of Love: The UK AIDS Memorial Quilt by TFB

For the first time since it was initially displayed in Hyde Park in 1994, the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt was unfolded in its entirety in July 2021. It features hundreds of hand-stitched, glue-gunned and collaged memorial panels. Each is the size of a grave plot, powerfully naming a generation of loved ones lost during the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 80s and 90s. The Quilt, with all its colours, materials and immense care and detail, is a heart-breaking monument of love for those departed, as well as a protest against the institutional failures of the period and the stigma surrounding HIV that still remains.

Colliding past and present, ‘Quilts of Love’ features interviews with Barton Friedland, Project Coordinator of the 1994 display, and the staff of The Food Chain, a frontline HIV charity that recently spearheaded the 2021 exhibition. The work pays homage to this stunning piece of visual and community art, but also the tireless work of the people who have made sure the stories behind the Quilts are preserved and the names it commemorates are never forgotten.

New Creatives is supported by Arts Council England and BBC Arts.

Composer, Sound Designer and Producer: Tom Foskett-Barnes
Interviewees: Anna Brewster, Siobhán Lanigan, Clifford McManus, Claire Quinn (The Food Chain) and Barton Friedland (Quilts of Love Display)
Executive Producer: Rory Bowens (NTS)