Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum is set to become the new home of the Sydney based AIDS Memorial Quilt. Made up of over 860 panels that represent the lives of 3000 people from different Australian states including Western Australia, the quilt was created in 1988 by the Australian AIDS Quilt Project, and is one of three in Australia. It has become an important community symbol Australia wide and is intended to be a constant and living memorial to those who have died due to AIDS related illnesses.
Whilst for Sydney-siders the new venue means that the Quilt will be easily accessible, Perth local Neil Buckley, who was instrumental in bringing the Quilt to Perth for last years Pride Festival, is concerned that the new home will restrict access for those who don’t live in Sydney. According to Mr Buckley this development dishonours the Quilt Project’s original intention to tour the Quilt around Australia.
Mr Buckley, a member of Perth Pagan Group, told OUTinPerth “It’s an important symbol of spirituality, not a museum piece. To not be able to bring the quilt back to WA is really wrong.”
He is worried that the Sydney Quilt Project made the decision without consulting with Western Australians who have contributed, adding “There has been no attempt by the Sydney Quilt Project to contact the people from WA who have panels on the Quilt to inform them of the decision. We will have to now travel to NSW to see the quilt with other museum collections”
Phillip Diment from the Sydney AIDS Quilt Project, rejects Mr Buckley’s concerns, arguing that the Quilt has rarely toured and has sat in a box in an Oxford Street office for over 12 years. Mr Diment added that a new home will ensure that the quilt can be adequately cared for, preserved and restored if necessary and is calling for the community to make donations to the Museum to cover the $100,000 cost of curation.
