After 6 years of organizing, and after 49 displays in 33 cities across the US and Mexico, the culminating display of the Monument Quilt is set for May 31 – June 2, 2019, on the National Mall in Washington, DC, between 12th and 14th St. This will be the only time that the quilt will be viewed in its entirety.

The Monument Quilt, a project of Baltimore based FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture, is a collection of over 3,000 stories by survivors of sexual and intimate partner violence and our allies, written, painted, and stitched onto red fabric. Our stories literally blanket highly public, outdoor places to create and demand space to heal, and resist a singular narrative about sexual violence.  Learn more: themonumentquilt.org

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The NAMES Project and the Monument Quilt: Public Rituals For Grief

Hosted by the The Textile Museum | Main Stage at 10:30am-12pm | Featuring Dr. Kalima Young and Julie Rhoad, President and CEO of the Names Project Foundation

On Saturday, June 1, 2019 Towson University faculty member from the Department of Electronic Media and Film, Dr. Kalima Young, will head to the main stage on the National Mall. Dr. Kalima Young and the President and CEO of the NAMES Project Foundation, Julie Rhoad, will discuss this history and current presence of the NAMES Project, the current state of AIDS activism, and the ways in which the Monument Quilt honors this legacy, by intervening in oppressive and silencing responses to sexual and intimate partner violence, with a focus on LGBTQ survivors and survivors of color. The Monument Quilt owes its existence to the NAMES Project, an ongoing ritual for grief for those lost to AIDS. Founded in 1985, the NAMES Project intervenes in the homophobic response to AIDS in the US, and created a platform for loved ones to grieve their loss. Read more from Dr. Kalima Young: Monument Quilt History Series: Kalima Young