New York City Aids Memorial Inc

THE NEW YORK CITY AIDS MEMORIAL HONORS THE MORE THAN 100,000 NEW YORKERS WHO HAVE DIED OF AIDS AND ACKNOWLEDGES THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF CAREGIVERS AND ACTIVISTS WHO MOBILIZED TO PROVIDE CARE FOR THE ILL, FIGHT DISCRIMINATION, LOBBY FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH, AND ALTER THE DRUG APPROVAL PROCESS. THE MEMORIAL AIMS TO INSPIRE VISITORS TO REMEMBER AND REFLECT AS WELL AS EMPOWER CURRENT AND FUTURE ACTIVISTS, HEALTH PROFESSIONALS, AND PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV IN THE CONTINUING MISSION TO ERADICATE THE DISEASE THROUGH THE MAINTENANCE OF OUR PERMANENT, ARCHITECTURALLY SIGNIFICANT MEMORIAL AS WELL AS THROUGH EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL PROGRAMMING.

PROGRAMS - FISCAL YEAR ENDED OCTOBER 31, 2023THE NEW YORK CITY AIDS MEMORIAL MARKED THE ANNUAL OBSERVANCE OF WORLD AIDS DAY WITH AN AFTERNOON AND EVENING OF FREE AND PUBLIC PROGRAMMING WITH PARTNERS INCLUDING HOUSING WORKS,OUT OF THE DARKNESS, TAPESTRY, AND QUEER SOUP NIGHT.PERFORMANCE: OPEN REHEARSAL: JOHN BERND VARIATIONS, MAY 18, 2023BY ISHMAEL HOUSTON-JONES, MIGUEL GUTIERREZ, AND NICK HALLETT, CO-PRESENTED WITH DANSPACE PROJECT JOHN BERND (19531988) WAS A TRANS-DISCIPLINARIAN IN DOWNTOWN NEW YORKS HYPERACTIVE ART WORLD OF THE 1980S, COMBINING ORIGINAL MOVEMENT, MUSIC, AND TEXT TO MAKE PERFORMANCES THAT MERGED EXPERIMENTALISM AND PERSONAL NARRATIVES OF LIVING WITH AIDS. IN 2016, CHOREOGRAPHERS ISHMAEL HOUSTON-JONES AND MIGUEL GUTIERREZ COLLABORATED WITH MUSICIAN NICK HALLETT TO ADAPT EXCERPTS FROM BERNDS CELEBRATED WORKS INTO A STRIKING MONTAGE FOR A NEW GENERATION OF PERFORMERS. THE OPEN REHEARSAL FEATURED RAHA BENHAM, TONI CARLSON, ALVARO GONZALEZ, CHARLESGOWIN, KRIS LEE, JOHNNIE CRUISE MERCER, AND ALEX RODABAUGH. THIS OPEN REHEARSAL WASPRESENTED BY THE NEW YORK CITY AIDS MEMORIAL IN PARTNERSHIP WITH DANSPACE PROJECT ANDPRECEDED A SERIES OF PERFORMANCES OF VARIATIONS ON THEMES FROM LOST AND FOUND: SCENES FROMA LIFE AND OTHER WORKS BY JOHN BERND, CO-DIRECTED BY MIGUEL GUTIERREZ AND ISHMAELHOUSTON-JONES, WITH MUSIC BY NICK HALLETT, AT DANSPACE PROJECT, IN MAY AND JUNE 2023.COLLABORATING WITH THE GENERATIONS PROJECT, THE MEMORIAL HOSTED A STORYTELLING EVENT TO CLOSE OUT NYC PRIDE MONTH. OUR STORYTELLERS SHARED STORIES ABOUT NIGHTLIFE, PARTYING, CLUBS, CONNECTING UNDER THE DISCO BALL, CREATING A COMMUNITY, AND FINDING THEIR PLACES IN THE WORLD THROUGH THE POWER OF MUSIC AND DANCE. PUBLIC PROGRAM - COMMUNITY QUILT MAKING WORKSHOP OCTOBER 2022.ON OCTOBER 14 & 15, 2022, THE NEW YORK CITY AIDS MEMORIAL WAS THRILLED TO PARTNER WITH TEXTILE DESIGN STUDIO MAHARAM AND THE NATIONAL AIDS MEMORIAL ON A SERIES OF FREE, PUBLIC, ARTIST-LED COMMUNITY QUILT-MAKING WORKSHOPS AT THE WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, NEW YORK, TO MARK THE THIRTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AIDS MEMORIAL QUILT. OVER 150 ARTISTS, DESIGNERS, ACTIVISTS, VOLUNTEERS, AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS JOINED US AND AIDS MEMORIAL QUILT CO-FOUNDER AND CONSERVATOR GERT MCMULLIN AS WE ENGAGED IN CROSS-GENERATIONAL CONVERSATION, CONTINUING THE INTENTION OF THE ACTIVISTS WHO FIRST IMAGINED THE QUILTTO INFORM, TO SHARE, AND TO BUILD COMMUNITY.EVENT: AVRAM FINKELSTEIN OPENING RECEPTION FEATURING A READING BY IRENA KLEPFISZ,OCTOBER 14, 2023OVER THE PAST FOUR DECADES, THE CULTURAL PRODUCTION OF AVRAM FINKELSTEIN HAS BEEN DEVOTED TO ARTICULATING POLITICAL AND SOCIAL JUSTICE CONCERNS, IN PARTICULAR IN RELATION TO THE ONGOING HIV/AIDS EPIDEMIC AND IN PUBLIC SPACE. WIDELY RECOGNIZED FOR HIS EARLY AGITPROP POSTERING WITH THE SILENCE=DEATH COLLECTIVE AND GRAN FURY, OF WHICH HE WAS A FOUNDING MEMBER, HIS MORE RECENT ENDEAVORS IN DRAWING AND SCULPTURE EXAMINE THE DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN THE PARALLEL ACTS OF MEMORY AND WITNESSING. IN THIS NEWLY COMMISSIONED INSTALLATION, FINKELSTEIN HAS DESIGNED FIVE TRANSLUCENT PANELS TO FORM A CONCEPTUAL SKY OF MEMORY AND WITNESSING THAT FLOATS ABOVE THE EARTH OF THE NEW YORK CITY AIDS MEMORIALS GRANITE PAVERS AND THE REFLECTIVE WATERS OF THEFOUNTAIN BELOW. THESE PANELS LAYER LOOSELY RENDERED, HAND-DRAWN CLOUDSA NEW STYLEEMERGING FOR THE ARTIST WHICH DOCUMENTS A REACQUAINTANCE WITH HIS OWN DISOBEDIENT BODY AFTER A STROKE SEVERAL YEARS AGOAND TEXT THAT HAS BEEN TAKEN FROM THE 1982 POEM BASHERT, BY IRENA KLEPFISZ: THESE WORDS ARE DEDICATED TO THOSE WHO DIED, AND THESE WORDS ARE DEDICATED TO THOSE WHO SURVIVED. SEEN THROUGH ONE ANOTHER, THESE PANELS CONSTITUTE A DIALOGUE WITH THE MEMORIAL SITE, ITS EMOTIONAL INTENTIONALITY, AND ITS USES OF SHADOW AND LIGHT.EVENT: THE RECOLLECTORS, OCTOBER 21, 2023PRESENTED IN COLLABORATION WITH THE GENERATIONS PROJECT ON OCTOBER 21, WE WELCOMED THE RECOLLECTORS, A DIGITAL COMMUNITY AND STORYTELLING FORUM CREATED AND DEDICATED TO REMEMBERING PARENTS LOST TO AIDS AND SUPPORTING THE CHILDREN THEY LEFT BEHIND, TO HOLD A FREE, LIVE STORYTELLING PROGRAM, ON-SITE AT THE NEW YORK CITY AIDS MEMORIAL. THIS PROGRAM WAS ORGANIZED BY CAROLINE FALBY IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE GENERATIONSPROJECT.