Category: Textile Art

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AIDS Awareness

John Navarria

AIDS Awareness is an event that raises awareness towards AIDS/HIV every year on April 10th. My goal is to spread more awareness by emphasizing projects made by thousands of people ranging from the AIDS memorial quilt, paintings, to online galleries dedicated to archiving artwork.

AIDS created a lot of stigma and discrimination towards LGBTQ people. Some believed that only certain individuals could get HIV and those who got it deserved it for being gay. These rumors kicked off in San Francisco during the 1980s. The first articles about the virus published by the CDC talked about how 5 previously healthy, young gay men had got it and unfortunately lost their lives to it. As a result of the article US gay rights movements were severely frowned upon. People began to become less comfortable around gay men specifically. Even the government at the time was devoted to funding resources for gay movements. With a new virus and increased amounts of tension between the LGBTQ community, something had to be done.

In this section, I’m going to be talking about the AIDS Memorial Quilt. We learned briefly about this topic in class but there is still a lot more to know. The project was started by Cleve Jones, a social activist, who dedicates his time to spreading positivity through artwork. Jones was born in West Lafayette, Indiana on October 11th, 1954. Jones first got into social rights movements when he was “adopted” by gay rights leader Harvey Milk. Jones had worked for Harvey Milk as an intern until he was assassinated in 1978. It was not until 1983 that Jones founded the AIDS Memorial Quilt. The idea of the quilt came to him during the candlelight march in remembrance of Harvey Milk and former Mayor George Moscone. At the march, people were writing names of those they lost to AIDS/HIV on signs. These signs were attached to the San Francisco Federal Building. Jones used what he saw that day as an inspiration.

Cleve Jones

The AIDS Memorial Quilt made its first appearance at the national mall in Washington DC on October 11th, 1987, at the same time as the National March for Lesbian and Gay Rights. At the time, the quilt had over 1900 panels and was the size of a football field! The first showing of the quilt lead to every name being read at all the future displays. Over 500,000 people had visited the quilt during its first showing. The textile art was so popular that the quilt toured over 20 cities. Over 9,000 volunteers helped the quilt be displayed across the country. Every city that was toured just made the quilt bigger and bigger. Towards the end of the first tour, the quilt was just over 6,000 separate panels. In November 1989 the quilt made its last stop at the National AIDS Memorial where it still resides In San Francisco. The project itself was made to stop the hate and social misconduct towards people affected by the virus. The quilt inspired so many more projects on over 5 different continents.  As of recently a new project called “Call My Name” was started to remember black lives lost to AIDS. This project as well as the AIDS Memorial quilt can now be toured online in its website exhibit!

AIDS Memorial Quilt At The National Mall

Another artist I will be talking about is Frank C. Moore. A lot of Moore’s artworks were focused on civil rights and environmental problems. What you may not know is that Moore himself was diagnosed with HIV in 1985. Following his diagnosis, Moore began creating artwork pursuing AIDS awareness and homosexuality. Later in 1988, Moore became a founding member of the program called “Visual AIDS” a project that utilizes art to fight against AIDS by preserving art and spreading awareness. The program continues to raise awareness to date. Shown below are some of Moore’s art as well as art from the Visual AIDS web gallery.

Although AIDS Awareness has influenced millions of people to actively work together and spread awareness through paintings, textile artwork, and online art galleries, we still do not have a proper vaccine for the virus. A ton of my intention and motivation to write about this issue came from the AIDS memorial quilt. This shows how much artwork can bring social issues to light. I have faith that in the upcoming years with the increasing numbers of the LGBTQ community that we can finally put a stop to the discrimination and hate caused by the virus.


Sources:

https://www.clevejones.com/ – Founder of the AIDS Memorial Quilt.

https://www.aidsmemorial.org/quilt-history – History of the quilt.

https://www.aidsmemorial.org/virtual-quilt/virtual-quilt-black-history – Call My Name Movement.

https://visualaids.org/

https://www.davidzwirner.com/exhibitions/2021/more-life/frank-moore

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Art/Social Change Topic

For this assignment, searching for an artist to write about and research sounded very difficult for me. One assignment that really got my interest was “textile arts and social change”. I was hooked. After my interest in learning about the AIDS Memorial quilt it was clear that this is what I had to write about.

The glory of the story is that there is not just one artist. There are thousands. Another beauty of this movement is that the artwork itself is too big to be in one place. I am truly excited to dedicate myself to exploring more about the quilt and cannot wait to start writing about it!

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AIDS Quilt

Its very interesting to read about this movement for aids. During the 80s, when AIDS was most dangerous, its truly devastating to see how hundreds on hundreds have died from it. Its hard to imagine something like that’s. What bothers me more is how these people where treated and viewed in the United States because of this. It shows how the LGBT community has been through so much, and has suffered death at such high rates, while being ostracized by others. Reading about the quilts is very astonishing how so many people came together to support this community at a time where there was so much hate. It was something that was needed so much at the time, and it made a huge impact.

AIDS must have been such a scary time because there was little to no sex education in communities such as black and brown ones. There was more hate to LGBT communities than support for a community clearly fighting for their lives. It was really important that these people had a way to be seen and acknowledged. They’re voices needed to be heard. Cleve Jones did that, and i think it was one of the most important things that he could’ve done. He started a movement and showed this community to the world showing that they and they’re cause and struggles were just as important too.

Each quilt is in honor of someone who died from aids, and has grown to over 40,000 different people. It was a way for families to mourn and honor there loved ones. I think that the quilt was mostly a way to acknowledge that AIDS was a problem and that there are people suffering with it. It humanized this community to the country saying that they matter too. It was such an important part of history.

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Embroidered stories

When it comes to learning about or discussing times of war or revolutions, especially those of a more conservative era, the role women play often goes unmentioned. Traditionally, women are not the ones fighting at the frontline, most documentaries reflect on the suffering and everyday life of men, and, since the already discussed tragedies are more than enough to process, most do not even feel the need to ask, and what were women doing all along?

Hence, one could easily dismiss the actions of a woman of hardships, thinking they were doing nothing worth of mentioning. However, the different generations of Chilian arpilleras goes to show how wrong such a conclusion is. These pieces of art have been key components in raising awareness of and commemorating the horrors of Chile’s history. They are messengers and reminders, they tell a thousand stories without words.

I believe that women’s pain holds a power of its own. Women’s pain is normalized and therefore often dismissed and overlooked. However, when people must look, they realize its greatness, it touches them to the very core and it inspires people to take action, rise up and change faulty systems, as it can be seen in several era’s of Chile’s history.

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How Quilts Spread Awareness For Change

Sarah Arzberger

wow! such an amazing and beautiful concept. Before reading and watching these videos I had no that Quiltmaking was really a big deal. Honestly, I thought quilts were just something grandparents made or something that was passed down in families. But I’m blown away by the beauty and artwork I see in these quilts. I didn’t understand at first, why quilts? Isn’t it just something that keeps you warm or makes your bed look pretty? No, it’s ART. After looking up how quilts are made I understand why it’s used to show Social Change. There is no limit to a quilt. It can be any size, has multiple layers to it, full of different colors, and can always be added on to. It’s also beautiful because it’s not one artist, it’s a community coming together added their square to the quilt to make one big statement.

After reading the article from the Washington Post “Now, even quilters are angry: How a social-justice design started a feud” by Peggy McGlone I don’t understand whats all the backlash is for. Sara Trail did not deserve the reaction that she got. I don’t see anything wrong with what she did. She is fighting for herself and for her people. She’s looking to spread awareness and is trying to make a difference. I think her square of the number 2 pencil erasing the “In” in the word Injustice was an amazing idea and was wonderfully displayed and really makes a statement. The quilt was made right after the killing of Trayvon Martin which started the Black Lives Matter Movement.

The article says “I think of the word ‘injustice’ like ‘peace’ and ‘love.’ I don’t understand how injustice is a political notion. Everyone wants to see more justice. It’s universal,” he said in an interview with The Washington Post. “We need to do better than this.” I agree with Frank Bennett. Justice and freedom are something everyone should have. It’s not a political thing. its love and peace. If the square really stirred the waters then Trail’s work wasn’t for nothing. I love when they say there is no quilt police because no one is gonna stop them.

source- https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/now-even-quilters-are-angry-how-a-social-justice-design-started-a-feud/2020/01/20/0e9874be-3951-11ea-bb7b-265f4554af6d_story.html

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Stitched Together

By Ryan Smith

Watching these videos and reading these stories about these individuals is really heavy and really makes you be grateful for the modern medicine and advancements we have today. Ive always been aware of the AIDS pandemic and the history this country has with LGBTQ rights. It still shocks me that not too long ago it was a federal crime to be queer in this county. As some 30+ years has passed since this tragedy and the illegal precedent of being queer, it doesn’t seem we have made as much progress as a nation as we should have. It was only 7 years ago that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down all state bans on same sex marriage, and legalizing all same sex marriages throughout the county.

Seeing these videos about how and why the quilt was made really opened my eyes on how such a deviating tragedy brought so many people together and make the worlds largest community arts project ever. It has 40,000+ individuals that lost their lives to this AIDS pandemic.

Back then there wasn’t much or if any information on sexual awareness and practicing safe sex. AIDS was something completely new back then and was at my understanding terrifying because no one knew anything about it and how to prevent it. Listening to these stories about how so many friends and family members were lost by the numbers and how much it would take its toll on you. The panels representing the size of a casket makes a bigger impact on the stories that want to be told, and these innocent lives will not be forgotten.

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The Biggest Textile Art Project!

Textile quilts and social change do not sound like two things that go together. After watching, reading, and researching many massive projects like the AIDS Memorial quilt you can see how much change these quilts can bring. In my opinion, the form of art and messages the quilts give off is just indescribable.

This week I decided to dig deeper and research more into the AIDS Memorial Quilt. Did you know that over 20 countries decided to join in on the projects! Currently, the quilt resides in the National AIDS Memorial just inside of San Francisco. Since it was first displayed on October 11, 1987, the quilt now includes more than 50,000 panels honoring practically 100,000 people. Since the quilt is now so large it cannot be displayed in one place. As of today, you can visit the project anytime since it is now displayed online.

Although there are many other projects like the AIDS Memorial, it would not be a bad idea to spread more important messages and opinions through textile art. If you’re interested in exploring the AIDS Memorial Quilt, I have put the link and all my sources below!

Sources:

– https://www.history.com/news/aids-memorial-quilt
– https://www.aidsmemorial.org/quilt-history
– https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1470617/

Visit the AIDS Memorial online!
https://www.aidsmemorial.org/interactive-aids-quilt

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Sewing A Revolution

This week, I’m asking you to look at three examples of textile arts used as tools for social change. I hope you get inspired! Just like last week, choose one to focus on and MAKE A POST of at least 3 paragraphs discussing an interesting idea related to that topic.

NAMES Project (AIDS Quilt)

Please review these resources on the NAMES Project, better known as the AIDS quilt.  

READ this website and WATCH the  three videos on it.  (Especially the first and second!  I really like the second one.) https://www.aidsmemorial.org/quilt-history

READ Cleve Jones writing about the history of the quilt: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/how-one-mans-idea-for-the-aids-quilt-made-the-country-pay-attention/2016/10/07/15917576-899c-11e6-b24f-a7f89eb68887_story.html?tid=a_inl_manual 

How-one-mans-idea-for-the-AIDS-quilt-made-the-country-pay-attention-The-Washington-PostDownload

Spend at least 10 minutes exploring the quilt HERE: https://www.aidsmemorial.org/quilt

AIDS quilt on the National Mall

Social Justice Sewing Academy


READ the “About” page of the Social Justice Sewing Academy and WATCH the video on that page. 

http://www.sjsacademy.org/what-we-do.html?fbclid=IwAR3qqFVM4IhcV42qPqm0oGLWnjDgCe6OcDgaONhBuDa_m6VwhRlLiOAQ7ZU

READ the “Inspiration” page of this quilt block pattern, designed by SJSA members Sara Trail and Melinda Newton, and chosen as the National Quilt Museum’s “Block of the Month” for January 2020.  LOOK at the pattern itself, on page 4. https://quiltmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/JAN-2020-BOTM-pattern2.pdf

READ this article on the controversy that resulted: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/now-even-quilters-are-angry-how-a-social-justice-design-started-a-feud/2020/01/20/0e9874be-3951-11ea-bb7b-265f4554af6d_story.html 

How-a-social-justice-themed-quilt-block-started-a-fight-among-quilters-The-Washington-Post1Download

quilt square with the word "injustice," a pencil erasing the "in"

Chilean Arpilleras

WATCH this video on the arpilleras of the time of Pinochet’s regime in Chile (don’t worry — the video gives you some historical background) 

READ this article on the contemporary use of embroidery as protest art in Chile today: https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-02-21/chile-women-use-traditional-embroidery-urge-political-change?fbclid=IwAR1TR31tjxATvtcUVc5noVgvHNDem0V_cp2WSPK3ClqCO2IfBTyqwn68CMk

EXPLORE this Instagram collection of those embroideries: https://www.instagram.com/bordasusojos/?utm_source=ig_embed

huge hanging quilt of embroidered eyes