2024 marks the 40th anniversary of Cork’s Gay Project early grassroots beginnings and it is planning to bring the Irish Names AIDS memorial quilt to Cork for exhibition this December as part of World AID’s Day. To coincide with these events, a series of creative community practice sessions will be offered to Gay Project service users past and present. Coming full circle these sessions will be provided on-site and facilitated by local queer artist, Billy Lingwood, who himself was a member of the Gay Project youth group in his teens.

With creative and conceptual input from the new group that forms around this project, the resulting body of work will ultimately take the form of a Corkonian quilt that tells the story of 40 years of LGBTI+ rights activism in Cork. A project of this nature will create space for many hands to work in collaboration on a large-scale community art project that is reflective of the poignant and powerful Irish Names AIDS memorial quilt. The resulting work will be displayed at a cultural facility in Cork alongside the visiting Irish Names AIDS memorial quilt in early December.

Please note that the details of events listed above are provided by the relevant Local Authorities.