UK AIDS Memorial Quilt to be displayed for the first time in Scotland
The UK AIDS Memorial Quilt will be exhibited at Tramway in 2026, the first time it has been displayed in Scotland. It will be exhibited alongside archival material which traces the Scottish roots of the project, as well as the documentary film There Is A Light That Never Goes Out. It will be free to visit and open for three weeks from 12 - 27 September 2026.
The UK AIDS Memorial Quilt consists of 42 quilts and 23 individual panels, representing over 384 individuals affected by HIV and AIDS. It is part of the world’s largest community art project, started in the USA in 1985 by activist Cleve Jones, commemorating friends, family and loved ones lost to AIDS. Individual panels were stitched together to create larger quilts, which were then shown outdoors as a form of protest to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS.
In the late 1980s, Scottish activist Alastair Hume visited San Francisco, where he witnessed an early display of the quilt. When Hume returned home to Edinburgh, he began coordinating the creation and display of a UK version, as many others did around the world.
Seven UK HIV support charities formed the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt Partnership in 2014 to conserve and display the quilt. Today it stands as an important reminder of those who were lost and of the fact that HIV and AIDS continue to affect people and communities today. While antiretrovirals have made it possible to live with HIV, access to this medication still varies dramatically across the globe.
The Tramway exhibition follows the display at the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern, in London, in June 2025, which was experienced by nearly 70,000 visitors over five days. As with the Turbine Hall, the Tramway display will include scheduled readings of the names of those commemorated in the Quilt. A display of one piece of the quilt is also taking place this winter in Edinburgh, at the offices of Edinburgh Art Festival (EAF) at the French Institute, following a torch lit procession with those involved on 1 December to commemorate World AIDS Day. More info here
Ally Van Tillo (formerly Alastair Hume), activist and founder of The UK AIDS Memorial Quilt, said:
“The UK AIDS Memorial Quilt is coming home to Scotland. From 1989 and throughout the 90s, the Quilt found a home in Leith. At the time, it was a resource for loss, bereavement and education. It helped people make sense of their loss, humanising the death of individuals that our government and media were painting as perverts and social pariahs. But its significance today is not just historical. Language used to ostracise gay people has not gone away, and
the queer community is once again under threat. Trans people are misunderstood and individuals' identities are routinely attacked. We are reminded of the scare mongering and shock tactics which lead to the deaths of countless queer people, not just from AIDS but from suicide and violent crime which were equally responsible for decimating families.
The AIDS Memorial Quilt is the world's biggest community art project. It is non-threatening and not overtly political. It has no religion, and does not judge. But that does not mean that
its message is any less powerful. Queer history for the most part is lost, because so many individuals were living in shame and shadows. The AIDS Memorial Quilt is alive: let’s ensure
no more of our history is allowed to disappear.”
Christopher Ward, National National Operations Manager, Waverley Care, said:
“The UK AIDS Memorial Quilt has deep roots in Scotland thanks to the vision of Ally Van Tillo, who helped create the UK Quilt during the early years of the HIV epidemic in the 1980s. The Quilt was an act of remembrance, activism, and protest to say that these lives mattered. The AIDS Quilt UK Partnership is delighted to see the Quilt return to Scotland and be displayed in Glasgow. It offers an important moment to honour those we have lost and to reflect on the work we still have to do to end HIV-related stigma and inequality.”
Image courtesy of Waverley Care