Before COVID-19, there was HIV/AIDS. The virus' impact decimated entire groups of people, and many of them are remembered through a memorial called the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. Each year, sections of the AIDS Memorial Quilt travel to communities across the country for in-person displays. Due to the pandemic, 2020 marked the first year of the virtual exhibition of the Quilt across all 50 states. Locally, AIDS Foundation Houston, Inc. has launched a virtual display of the Quilt.
The digital display hosted by AIDS Foundation Houston will feature eight panels that honor friends, colleagues and loved ones from the Houston area and is available for view on the AIDS Foundation Houston website. The entirety of the Quilt, comprised of 48,000 hand-sewn panels that memorialize those lost to AIDS, is available to view on the AIDS Memorial Quilt website through March 31. The exhibition will include digital images from thousands of panels, each telling the story of a loved one lost to AIDS.