As part of our Queer Bloomsbury festival programme, Charleston is honoured to host a moving display of 7 Quilts from the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt collection – one chapter of the largest community art project in the world. 7 powerful quilt blocks will be exhibited in the Hay Barn from 14–21 September, each one commemorating individuals lost to the AIDS crisis and honouring the resilience of those affected.

First created in the United States by LGBTQ and human rights activist Cleve Jones at the height of the AIDS pandemic in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the AIDS Memorial Quilt began as an act of protest, remembrance and love. Activist groups around the world encouraged people to make fabric panels in memory of loved ones, later sewing them together into vast quilts for public display. The UK Chapter was formed by Scottish activist Alastair Hume in the late 1980s, based in Edinburgh. Today the Quilt is looked after by a partnership of 7 HIV support charities

Recently presented at Tate Modern in full, the Quilt continues to bear witness to the impact of HIV and AIDS on individuals and communities, both then and now, and in light of the current HIV funding crisis which threatens millions more lives.