Q.U.I.L.T.: A Patchwork of Reflections

This essay, through an interrelated patchwork of "thought panels," explores the themes of visuality, representation, and trauma in the AIDS Memorial Quilt. We argue that as a text visually representing the magnitude of the global AIDS crisis, the Quilt fails miserably. However, this failure to represent is precisely why the Quilt succeeds as a gathering point for AIDS awareness and compassion, where traditional memorials might not. Indeed, to understand the rhetorical function of the Quilt, we argue that the Quilt must not be conceived as a "monument" to the crisis, but as an "archive." Whereas a monument enshrines an event in a particular place and time, an archive records and makes accessible a (partial, contingent) history, a history that is more than the sum of the parts on its timeline.