On Dec. 1, the Michigan State University Museum will join thousands of individuals and educational, health and cultural organizations around the world to mark World AIDS Day.
In observance of the day, the museum will display a NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt block and an “Orphan Tower” comprising beaded dolls, representing the number of AIDS orphans in one South African village.
The dolls were made by women from the Siyazama Project, a traditional beadwork and AIDS education intervention program in South Africa. The MSU Museum has worked with the South African artists and educators on the Siyazama project for a number of years, resulting in exhibitions, publications and acquisitions to its collections related to the intersection of arts, education and health.
Founded in 1987, The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt is currently the largest ongoing community arts project. A typical "block" of The AIDS Memorial Quilt consists of eight individual 3-by-6 panels sewn together. Virtually every one of the more than 40,000 colorful panels that make up the quilt memorializes the life of a person lost to AIDS.
Researchers have also developed a new web site and digital app to create more access to the moving memorials in the quilt.
The World AIDS Day display will be on view Dec. 1-8 in the MSU Museum's Main Gallery.