Yale Bulletin
and Calendar

December 7-14, 1998Volume 27, Number 15




























Display of AIDS Quilt will balance public
programs with periods of quiet reflection

Eleven years ago, a small group of strangers gathered in a storefront in San Francisco to discuss how they could commemorate friends, lovers or family members who had died of AIDS, individuals whom they feared history would neglect. They decided to create a quilt as a memorial to their loved ones, which could also serve to help people understand the disease.

The project they started, called the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, today has over 41,000 individual 3-by-6 foot panels -- each commemorating the life of someone who has died of AIDS -- that have been sewn together by friends, lovers and relatives. The largest example of a community art project in the world, it has been displayed in its entirety only five times, each time in Washington, D.C. It has grown too large to be displayed on the Mall there.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 8 and 9, two 12-by-12 foot squares will be displayed at Yale. A series of special events, including talks, musical performances and prayer/meditation services, will be offered in conjunction with the display, which is sponsored by the University Chaplain's Office, the Office of New Haven Affairs, the Secretary's Office and the health education department of Yale University Health Services.

The panels can be viewed 10 a.m.-10 p.m. on Tuesday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Wednesday in Battell Chapel, corner of Elm and College streets. The public is invited.

"Year after year, [the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt] continues to expand, as mourners find its fabric cemetery a way both to let go of the deceased and to keep hold of them," says Peter Hawkins, professor of religion and literature at the Divinity School, who will give a slide lecture about the quilt. "The growing dimensions of the quilt, and the fact that it can barely be contained or experienced all at once, remind us of all we have lost. But the individual panels themselves -- snapshots of the soul -- show what AIDS has been powerless to destroy: quirkiness, sensuality, humor, the bonds of relationship, the value of private life, of love."

In addition to Hawkins' slide lecture, other special events being held in conjunction with the display include a conversation with representatives of local AIDS service organizations, a tea with a Yale AIDS physician and a Yale Glee Club performance of music with the themes of death and dying.

"We have scheduled events around the display that allow people the opportunity to see the quilt panels and to experience the display in different ways," says the Reverend Cynthia Terry, associate University chaplain. "There will be periods of music and periods of quiet, as well as five programs of information, conversation, learning, sharing and worship. People can come for as short or long a time as they would like."

Events being offered include the following. All take place in Battell Chapel unless otherwise noted.

Tuesday, Dec. 8

Noon: A brown bag luncheon conversation on the topic "AIDS and New Haven," with Dominic Maldonado of the New Haven Health Department; Ellen Gabrielle of AIDS Project New Haven; Cindy Mercier of Caring Cuisine; Martha Dale of Leeway; Joyce Poole of AIDS Interfaith Network; and Sarah Caldwell of CARP, Inc.

4 p.m.: Chaplain's tea with Dr. Peter Selwyn, associate director of the Yale AIDS Program and associate professor of medicine, epidemiology and public health. Selwyn will discuss his recent book "Surviving the Fall: The Personal Journey of an AIDS Doctor," which describes his experiences as a physician in the early years of the AIDS epidemic and the impact of those experiences on his personal life.

10 p.m.: A candlelight vigil in Battell Chapel will follow prayer/meditation services. Christian: Candlelight prayer in Taizé tradition at 9:07 p.m. in Dwight Chapel, 67 High St.; Jewish: Egalitarian minyan for maariv at 9:30 p.m. in Slifka Center, 80 Wall St.; and Muslim: 9:15 p.m. in Bingham Hall Chapel 300 College St. Other prayer/mediation services may also be announced.

Wednesday, Dec. 9

Noon: Service of Music, Silence and Light, a multifaith service for members of the Yale community to mark death and loss. (See related story.)

4 p.m.: Slide lecture on "Naming Names: the AIDS Memorial Quilt" by Peter Hawkins. Music will be provided by the undergraduate group The New Blue.

5:30 p.m. A musical performance titled "In Time of AIDS" by the Yale Glee Club, directed by David Connell. The concert features a sequence of four movements for chorus and organ on secular humanist texts regarding death and dying by American Jewish composer Simon Sargon.

On both days, live music will be offered at the start of every hour for 10- or 15-minute periods. Performers are undergraduate students and students at the School of Music and Divinity School, as well as Jean Webb, director of admissions at the Law School.

For further information on the event, call Cynthia Terry at 432-1131.