A more confident path forward for the NZ AIDS Memorial Quilt Project may become clearer this evening when a meeting convenes to engender support for the future. The Quilt Project has suffered from a low level of individual and community support in recent years, a product of the lower incidence of death resulting from HIV infections plus a lessening in volunteer input and funding availability. The project cares for several hundred memorial quilts, many made after the numerous deaths resulting from the first wave of the HIV epidemic in the 1990s. Quilt guardian Michael Bancroft has embarked on a plan to ensure ongoing preservation for the historic quilt panels while at the same time trying to ensure they remain visible and relevant to the glbt community. A number of businesses and organisations have informally pledged support to the Project and it recently received a seeding grant from the GABA Trust. The meeting to quantify support for the quilts' future will be held at 7.30 this evening at the NZ AIDS Foundation's offices at 31 Hargreaves Street, College Hill, Auckland.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 12th May 2009 - 10:02am