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Quilt panel, part of Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt, in memory of 'Melissa and Sue', cotton / satin / synthetic material, made by Joy Strange, Queensland, Australia, 1994 Rectangular quilt panel, portrait orientation, on an orange background. There is…
Quilt panel, part of Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt, in memory of 'Melissa and Sue', cotton / satin / synthetic material, made by Joy Strange, Queensland, Australia, 1994 Rectangular quilt panel, portrait orientation, on an orange background. There is a mother and daughter holding hands with pink appliqued water lilies, green leaves, a green padded frog and a sequinned ball. On the left hand side of the quilt above the figure of the girl, the following is written in appliqued letters:' You are my Sunshine' in yellow above a sun and 'Melissa' in green below it. Above the figure of the woman on the right hand side of the quilt, the following is written in appliqued letters 'Loving Mother' in yellow and 'Sue' in green below that. On file is a newspaper article by Joy Strange a "home-care person with the Queensland AIDS Council. The article talks about caring for a 9 year old girl called Melissa. The young girl had been born with the HIV virus and had acquired it though her mother who had contacted it though a blood transfusion. Her mother Sue had died already. At this stage Melissa was confined to a wheel chair and needed help with most things. The article tells the story of being with Melissa at 2.30am when she woke from sleep and in the course of conversation Joy discovered Melissa's passion for the song 'You Are My Sunshine'. Eventually Melissa was admitted to the Children's Hospital. Her room in the hospital was decorated with things she loved. Joy talks about visiting Melissa in hospital and playing a wonderful game 'where we found little green frogs everywhere and kissed many to try to find a handsome prince. Towards the end even her speech was affected and her little body was ravaged by the deadly virus in many ways' Finally the article says 'In March there will be a showing of the quilt featuring those who have died in Queensland of AIDS. If you attend this, there will be a special square....featuring a green frog and you are my Sunshine. Melissa's will be next to Sue's.' (The Courier Mail Wednesday January 12 1994)
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Related objects
- ‘Jeff’ - Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt panel
- ‘Terry’ - Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt panel
- Brian Mann - Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt panel
- Eve van Grafhorst - Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt panel
- Gilbert S - Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt panel
- James Rodgers - Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt panel
- Richard John Anderson - Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt panel
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Visit the page Brian Mann - Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt panel Quilt panel, part of Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt, in memory of 'Brian Mann', synthetic textile / cotton, made in New South Wales, Australia, 1994. Rectangular quilt panel, portrait orientation, on a yellow background, with a large red cotton section including appliquéd lettering '1959 - 1993. Brian Mann, we will always love you'. On the top half there is a rainbow between two padded white clouds. -
Visit the page Gilbert S - Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt panel Quilt panel, part of Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt, in memory of 'Gilbert S', satin, made in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 1994 Rectangular quilt panel, landscape orientation, on a yellow background, 'GILBERT S / 1939 - 1990', with a pair of comedy and tragedy drama masks and two French flags appliquéd on either side of the centre. There are red, white, blue, pink and purple ribbons hanging from the ears of the masks. -
Visit the page James Rodgers - Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt panel Quilt panel, part of Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt, in memory of 'James Rodgers', cotton / rayon / synthetic textile / paint, made in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 1994 Rectangular quilt panel, landscape orientation in pale blue cotton. The following is appliquéd in red patterned cotton 'Always a shoulder to cry on. James Rodgers' across the top centre of the panel. Below that the following is appliquéd in grey cotton '1957 - 1993', and in pink paint 'Love Ya!...Kaz'. On the left hand side is an appliquéd reproduction photograph of James Rodgers. On the right hand side, there is a padded, shirtless figure of the upper body of a male, with pink body and brown hair, and three silver tears falling on the blue background. -
Visit the page ‘Terry’ - Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt panel Quilt panel, part of the Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt in memory of 'Terry', cotton / paint, made in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 1994 Rectangular quilt panel, landscape orientation. The left side has an autumn Australian country scene painted in bright acrylic colours. On the right side, the following is written in yellow letters 'TERRY / 11. 2. 1951 - 16. 11. 1993'.
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Visit the page ‘Jeff’ - Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt panel Quilt panel, part of Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt, in memory of 'Jeff', cotton, made in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 1994. Rectangular quilt panel, landscape orientation. On a royal blue background are appliquéd twelve teddy bears, with the principal bear holding three balloons. One bear has a yellow ribbon bow around his neck. 'They always love you Jeff' is written in white across the bottom half of the quilt. Three names appear on the lower half: 'Kanga', and two other names 'Possy' and 'Gary'. There is also a stone sewn onto the panel and a small square of cotton with a Japanese symbol. There are three sets of Japanese writing: one on the left hand side of the quilt, one on the right hand side in brown, and the third next to the name Kanga. There are freehand curly lines at the bottom of the quilt This quilt panel was made by the partner of Jeff in Brisbane, Queensland about 1994. Jeff was known as 'Kanga' and his partner, Gary, as 'Possy'. The symbolism of the quilt is given in a typed memorandum received with it. The royal blue background represents the sky and the bears are loving companions. The Japanese characters on the left translate to be a forest of books, representing Jeff's academic background and love of literature. The stone came from Jeff's previous partner. Another friend gave the white rectangle with red Japanese character. The yellow ribbon was from a friend living in Japan. The brown Japanese writing is the title of Jeff's favourite book by Yukio Mishima, 'Acts of Worship'. The white Japanese characters translate to 'I love you'. The curly lines represent the love and care given at St Luke's and by the Queensland AIDS Council. -
Visit the page Richard John Anderson - Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt panel Quilt panel, part of Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt, in memory of 'Richard John Anderson', cotton / satin, made in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 1994 Rectangular quilt panel, portrait orientation. The following are appliqued on to a background of horizontal bands in rainbow colours, starting with red at the top and ending with indigo violet: a yellow flower, a strawberry ice cream cone, a collage of three balloons with the white peace dove with olive branch and comedy tragedy drama masks. 'Richard John Anderson, 12. 12. 57 - 26. 12. 91, love Robert & friends' are sewn in white lower case letters. -
Visit the page Eve van Grafhorst - Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt panel Quilt panel, part of Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt, in memory of 'EVE', cotton / satin / lace / synthetic material / mixed media, made in Australia, 1994 Rectangular panel, portrait orientation. On a black background is a large appliqued, dark-haired, angel with feathered wings. She is wearing a lace dress with a dark belt and decorated with appliquéd pink roses. There are pink roses in her hair and a halo-like circle of pink roses hovering above her head. 'EVE' is also written in appliqued pink roses. The letters 'Breaking Down The Barriers', are appliquéd in gold glitter fabric on the bottom of the panel. The quilt was made in memory of Eve van Grafhorst (b.17.07.1982 - 2011.1993). Eve van Grafhorst was infected with HIV via a blood transfusion at birth. She received 11 transfusions and was contaminated by the last one. Questions were raised in the New South Wales Legislative Council about her entitlement to compensation (Legislative Council 18/3/1992). She became the centre of a storm of controversy in 1985 when she was banned from her local pre-school in the Central Coast of the New South Wales amid fears she might infect other children. After a year of controversy and hounding by the Australian media, the van Grafhorsts moved to New Zealand in 1986 where Eve lived a normal life and attended a local school without incident until her death in 1993. A film was made about her, 'All about Eve', by nzonscreen in 1994. She was an Ambassador for Schools AIDS Day. Anni I have looked for approved references ie non Wikipedia but have not found any. The best is Paul Sendziuk, 'Denying the Grim reaper' Eureka Street, October 2003 and possibly his book Paul Sendziuk, 'Learning to Trust' UNSW Press, 2003.