AIDS quilt, rock legend deliver message in Asheville - WLOS

The AIDS Memorial Quilt exhibit opens Tuesday in Asheville with an educational twist tied to a message delivered in a movie. (Photo credit: WLOS staff)

The AIDS Memorial Quilt includes a rock icon and a lesson to be learned from his life. The exhibit personalizes a public health issue in America -- HIV/AIDS -- and how it's on the rise among young people.

The AIDS Memorial Quilt exhibit opens Tuesday in Asheville with an educational twist tied to a message delivered in a movie.

"Bohemian Rhapsody" tells the story of Freddie Mercury, the flamboyant frontman for the legendary rock band Queen.

"I hope that they see that HIV doesn't discriminate," Michael Poandl, of the Western North Carolina AIDS Project, said.

The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, an artistic tribute to those who have died of HIV/AIDS, is on display at the Asheville Masonic Temple. The quilt contains 20 blocks of eight panels each.

Look closely and you will see the one and only Mercury and the reality of why his name is there.

"I don't know if people know that Freddie Mercury did in fact die of AIDS-related causes," Poandl said.

He said that's why panels from the world collection are so important.

The exhibit opens not long after the movie about Mercury and his band hit theaters.

"I think that the upside of something like "Bohemian Rhapsody" is that it puts HIV/AIDS back into the popular consciousness," Poandl said.

Many of the younger generation know nothing of these names or even why they are on the cloth panels.

"People under age 25 are much more likely to contract HIV/AIDS than the general population," Poandl said.

Perhaps something as simple as a movie about a rock star will open some young eyes.

"It doesn't matter whether you're a celebrity or not, it doesn't matter how talented you are, how much money you have, HIV can affect anyone," Poandl said.

Awareness, education, prevention, services and information on all the things WNCAP provides is also available at the Masonic Temple.

The grand opening for the AIDS Memorial Quilt is Tuesday. The free exhibit, open 10 a.m.-7 p.m. daily, runs through Dec. 1.



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