World AIDS Day December 1 Information
AIDS Memorial Quilt Internatinal site for the AIDS Memorial quilt
UNAIDS Uniting the world against HIV/AIDS
YEAH A site empowering young Australians, their parents and teachers, to know what is HIV and believe they can do something about it
World AIDS Day is celebrated on December 1 each year around the world. It has become one of the most recognised international health days and a key opportunity to raise awareness, commemorate those who have passed on, and celebrate victories such as increased access to treatment and prevention services.
UNAIDS took the lead on World AIDS Day campaigning from its creation until 2004. From 2004 onwards the World AIDS Campaign's Global Steering Committee began selecting a theme for World AIDS Day in consultation with civil society, organisations and government agencies involved in the AIDS response.
Themes run for one or two years and are not just specific to World AIDS Day. Campaigning slogans such as 'Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise' have been used year round to hold governments accountable for their HIV and AIDS related commitments.
Informed by those most affected by HIV, the World AIDS Campaign's goal is to ensure that governments and policy makers meet the HIV targets they set, the commitments they made, and mobilise the necessary resources for a world where people do not die of AIDS and opportunistic infections like TB. At the heart of the global commitment is the publicly stated ambition of Universal Access by 2010 - enabling everyone to have non-discriminatory and non-judgmental access to adequate HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.
The theme for World AIDS Day 2010 is 'Universal Access and Human Rights'. Global leaders have pledged to work towards universal access to HIV and AIDS treatment, prevention and care, recognising these as fundamental human rights. Valuable progress has been made in increasing access to HIV and AIDS services, yet greater commitment is needed around the world if the goal of universal access is to be achieved. Millions of people continue to be infected with HIV every year. In low- and middle-income countries, less than half of those in need of antiretroviral therapy are receiving it, and too many do not have access to adequate care services.
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THE MEANING OF THE RED RIBBON FOR WORLD AIDS DAY
»The Red Ribbon is the global symbol for solidarity with HIV positive and people living with AIDS and it unites the people in the common fight against this disease.«
If you focus on the meaning of the color Red in addition to the symbol of the ribbon, it is easier to explain why wearing the Red Ribbon is more than just showing sympathy with those affected:
The Red Ribbon is ...
- red
The red ribbon has become an internationally recognized symbol for AIDS awareness, worn by people throughout the year in support of people living with HIV and in remembrance of those who have died. On 1 December this year, people around the world will be pinning on their red ribbons as they commemorate World AIDS Day. But where did the ribbon come from?
In 1988, a group called Visual AIDS was founded by arts professionals as a response to the effects of AIDS on the arts community and as a way of organizing artists, arts institutions, and arts audiences towards direct action on AIDS.
Three years later, in 1991, some of the Visual AIDS artists came together to design a visual symbol to demonstrate compassion for people living with HIV and their care givers. Inspired by the yellow ribbons honoring American soldiers serving in the Gulf war, the artists chose to create a red ribbon to symbolize support and solidarity for people living with HIV and to remember those who have died from AIDS-related illnesses. The color red was chosen for its, "connection to blood and the idea of passion -- not only anger, but love, like a valentine," the Project founders say. The project was to become known as the Red Ribbon Project.
In a spontaneous campaign in 1991, Red Ribbon Project volunteers sent letters and red ribbons to all attendees at the Tony Awards in the United States where actor Jeremy Irons stepped out on national television with a red ribbon pinned prominently on his lapel.
The symbol came to Europe on a mass scale on Easter Monday in 1992, when more than 100,000 red ribbons were distributed during the Freddie Mercury AIDS Awareness Tribute Concert at Wembley stadium. More than one billion people in more than 70 countries worldwide watched the show on television. Throughout the nineties many celebrities wore red ribbons, encouraged by Princess Diana's high profile support for AIDS.
"The fact that it was so widely imitated was amazing. We couldn't believe it," said Allan Frame, one of the Visual AIDS artists involved in the creation of the red ribbon symbol.
Today the Red Ribbon has become an international symbol of solidarity and support for people living with HIV. Wearing a red ribbon is a simple and powerful way to challenge the stigma and prejudice surrounding AIDS. Wear yours with pride this World AIDS Day.
For more information on the Red Ribbon and its history
http://www.worldaidsdaynsw.org/redribbon.php
http://www.redribbon.net/red-ribbon-history.htm
THE QUILT PROJECT
History
Inspired by the American Names Project, based on the folk art traditions of quilting and sewing bees. The Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt Project was founded in September 1988 by Andrew Carter OAM and Richard Johnson in Sydney. It was formally launched on World AIDS day, 1st of December 1988 by Ms Ita Buttrose. The founding 35 memorial panels were displayed that day with visiting panels from the American Names Project.
The Quilt Project was the first of the many international projects to form the Names Project and regrettably remains the largest outside the United States. Today the Quilt is a registered charity. It is a national organisation with branches in most states and territories.
While the Quilt began as a memorial, it has become one of the nations most valuable resources for promoting a compassionate and educational dialogue about AIDS. Its non threatening nature allows people from all walks of life to learn about the AIDS epidemic from its human side. Its artistic and creative approach enables accessibility to all.
The Beginning
At a Candlelight March in the United States during the mid 1980s, cardboard placards were displayed in memory of people who had died of AIDS. This 44 patch work" memorial inspired one man, Cleve Jones, to consider the idea of a large quilt as a more permanent memorial. Friends and colleagues joined with him to help organise sewing bees and quilting workshops. The first panel was made in memory of a close friend of Cleve Jones.
In June 1987, the NAMES Project was officially launched with its first public display of 40 Quilt panels. The response was so overwhelming that when the Quilt was displayed outside the White House in Washington, DC, some four months later, it had grown to 1,920 panels covering an area over two football fields in size. Half a million visitors saw the Quilt and this led to a national tour in 1988. Since that time, the US Quilt has grown to over 25,000 panels and the International AIDS Quilt has spread to over 27 countries around the world.
The Quilt in Australia
Australian traveller Andrew Carter saw the American Quilt during its 1988 US National Tour, and upon his return home he was inspired to found the Australian Quilt with Richard Johnson. Andrew Carter was later awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in recognition of this work. World AIDS Day (1 December), 1988, saw the unveiling of the Quilt in Australia. Ita Buttrose formally launched the first 35 panels in Sydney. The Australian Quilt remains the largest outside the USA. Local groups of the Quilt now exist in States and Territories across Australia, all of them being voluntary and relying upon donations.
Source: http://www.aidsquilt.org.au/history.php
History of the Quilt In the USA
Today the Quilt is a powerful visual reminder of the AIDS pandemic. More than 44,000 individual 3-by-6-foot memorial panels -- most commemorating the life of someone who has died of AIDS -- have been sewn together by friends, lovers and family members. This is the story of how the Quilt began… |
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Activist BeginningsThe Quilt was conceived in November of 1985 by long-time San Francisco gay rights activist Cleve Jones. Since the 1978 assassinations of gay San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone, Jones had helped organize the annual candlelight march honoring these men. While planning the 1985 march, he learned that over 1,000 San Franciscans had been lost to AIDS. He asked each of his fellow marchers to write on placards the names of friends and loved ones who had died of AIDS. At the end of the march, Jones and others stood on ladders taping these placards to the walls of the San Francisco Federal Building. The wall of names looked like a patchwork quilt.
Public response to the Quilt was immediate. People in the U.S. cities most affected by AIDS -- Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco -- sent panels to the San Francisco workshop. Generous donors rapidly supplied sewing machines, equipment and other materials, and many volunteered tirelessly. The Inaugural Display
The overwhelming response to the Quilt's inaugural display led to a four-month, 20-city, national tour for the Quilt in the spring of 1988. The tour raised nearly $500,000 for hundreds of AIDS service organizations. More than 9,000 volunteers across the country helped the seven-person traveling crew move and display the Quilt. Local panels were added in each city, tripling the Quilt's size to more than 6,000 panels by the end of the tour. The Quilt Grows
In 1989 a second tour of North America brought the Quilt to 19 additional cities in the United States and Canada. That tour and other 1989 displays raised nearly a quarter of a million dollars for AIDS service organizations. In October of that year, the Quilt was again displayed on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. By 1992, the AIDS Memorial Quilt included panels from every state and 28 countries. In October 1992, the entire Quilt returned to Washington, D.C.. and in January 1993 The NAMES Project was invited to march in President Clinton's inaugural parade. The last display of the entire AIDS Memorial Quilt was in October of 1996 when The Quilt covered the entire National Mall in Washington, D.C. The 1,000 newest blocks - those blocks received at or since the October 1996 display - were displayed the weekend of June 26, 2004 on The Ellipse in Washington D.C. in observance of National HIV Testing Day. The Quilt Today
The Washington, D.C. displays of October 1987, 1988, 1989, 1992 and 1996 are the only ones to have featured the Quilt in its entirety, The Quilt was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 and remains the largest community art project in the world. The Quilt has been the subject of countless books, films, scholarly papers, articles, and theatrical, artistic and musical performances, including "Common Threads: Stories From The Quilt" which won the Academy Award as the best feature-length documentary film of 1989. The Quilt has redefined the tradition of quilt-making in response to contemporary circumstances. A memorial, a tool for education and a work of art, the Quilt is a unique creation, an uncommon and uplifting response to the tragic loss of human life. |
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In June of 1987, a small group of strangers gathered in a 
Inspired by this sight, Jones and friends made plans for a larger memorial. A little over a year later, he created the first panel for the AIDS Memorial Quilt in memory of his friend Marvin Feldman. In June of 1987, Jones teamed up with Mike Smith and several others to formally organize the NAMES Project Foundation.
On October 11, 1987, the Quilt was displayed for the first time on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., during the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. It covered a space larger than a football field and included 1,920 panels. Half a million people visited the Quilt that weekend.
The Quilt returned to Washington, D.C. in October of 1988, when 8,288 panels were displayed on the Ellipse in front of the White House. Celebrities, politicians, families, lovers and friends read aloud the names of the people represented by the Quilt panels. The reading of names is now a tradition followed at nearly every Quilt display.
Today there are
ACON World AIDS Display, Old Court House, Wollongong 1 December, 2005
WORLD AIDS DAY IMAGES AND MESSAGES
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AIDS AWARENESS WEEK
CANBERRA, 2006
National Art Gallery, Canberra
Captain Cook Water Jet, Canberra
National Library, Canberra