UK AIDS Memorial Quilt to be displayed at Wakefield Exchange
Wednesday, January 07, 2026
Wakefield is set to be the first city outside of London to welcome the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt in its entirety.
The Council, in partnership with the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt Partnership, will display the piece at Wakefield Exchange (WX) in June.
“We’re pleased to bring the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt to Wakefield. Commemorating the lives of nearly 400 people, each panel has been lovingly created by the family, friends or partners of someone who has lost their life. It really is a deeply moving piece, with such important stories to tell, and we’re proud to host this in Wakefield Exchange.”
Cllr Hannah Appleyard
Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Sport
The UK AIDS Memorial Quilt currently consists of 42 quilts and 23 individual panels. They represent over 384 individuals affected by HIV and AIDS.
All 42 blocks will be displayed at WX. And selected individual panels at partner venues around the district.
The display at WX will include scheduled readings of the names of those commemorated in the Quilt. The recently rediscovered documentary film There Is A Light That Never Goes Out about the 1994 Hyde Park display of the Quilt will also be on display. Talks and workshops will also be free to attend over the course of the exhibition. It will be free to visit from 3 to 7 June 2026.
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. They were then shown outdoors as a form of protest to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS.
Seven UK HIV support charities formed the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt Partnership in 2014 to conserve and display the quilt.
Alex Sparrowhawk, Director of Delivery and Impact at George House Trust, said: "The UK AIDS Quilt partnership is delighted that the Quilt is coming to Yorkshire in 2026. In the late 1980s into the 1990s, HIV activism across the north of England was driven by networks of volunteers and campaigners linking cities like Wakefield, Leeds, and Manchester. Together, these intertwined movements helped to transform services, challenge fearmongering and build a proud tradition of HIV activism across the north of England.”