AIDS memorial quilt gets permanent home in the Museum of New Zealand

Memorial quilt for the first victims of HIV/AIDS in New Zealand handed to museum in church ceremony

Te Papa, the Nation Museum of New Zealand in Wellington

The national museum of New Zealand, Te Papa, accepted the country’s AIDS memorial quilt in a church ceremony yesterday.

The quilt, a memorial to the first victims of the AIDS epidemic in New Zealand, was created with the motto: ‘Remember their names, cherish their memory, celebrate their lives’.

The first panel was sewn in memory of Peter Cuthbert, the first person to die of HIV/AIDS in New Zealand in 1988.

At the ceremony at St Matthew’s church in Auckland was attended by over 200 people, including Dame Cath Tizard, patron of the Quilt Project and the first NZ infectious disease specialist to tackle the rapid spread of the virus, reported Gay NZ.

In February a study from the New Zealand AIDS Foundation found that one fifth of gay and bisexual men in Auckland did not know that they were HIV positive.

by Anna Leach
Source – Gay Star News

Te Papa, the Nation Museum of New Zealand in Wellington

The national museum of New Zealand, Te Papa, accepted the country’s AIDS memorial quilt in a church ceremony yesterday.

The quilt, a memorial to the first victims of the AIDS epidemic in New Zealand, was created with the motto: ‘Remember their names, cherish their memory, celebrate their lives’.

The first panel was sewn in memory of Peter Cuthbert, the first person to die of HIV/AIDS in New Zealand in 1988.

At the ceremony at St Matthew’s church in Auckland was attended by over 200 people, including Dame Cath Tizard, patron of the Quilt Project and the first NZ infectious disease specialist to tackle the rapid spread of the virus, reported Gay NZ.

In February a study from the New Zealand AIDS Foundation found that one fifth of gay and bisexual men in Auckland did not know that they were HIV positive.

by Anna Leach
Source – Gay Star News
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