The design for London‘s first permanent Aids memorial just metres from the site of the UK’s first specialist HIV ward opened by Princess Diana has been revealed.
Diana, Princess of Wales caused a shift in public attitudes towards the disease when she shook hands with patients on the former Middlesex Hospital ward in Fitzrovia – helping diminish the myth the illness could be transmitted via touch.
Anya Gallaccio has been picked to design the Aids Memorial with the Aids Memory UK project – aiming to raise awareness of the virus’ impact on four key groups, including gay and bisexual men and those impacted by the infected blood scandal.
A panel of representatives from the four groups affected selected Gallaccio’s creation from a short list of five London artists.
Gallaccio explained it was important her design ‘reflected all experiences of HIV and Aids’.
‘There was and is no singular experience of HIV and Aids,’ the artist told BBC News.
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Artist Anya Gallaccio has been picked to design the Aids Memorial. Her design is pictured
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Princess Diana shakes hands with an Aids victim as she opens a new Aids ward at the Middlesex Hospital on April 9, 1987 in London, England
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Anya Gallaccio’s design was chosen from a short list of five other London artists
‘So for me, it was about slightly redrawing that narrative to be more inclusive of those individuals and communities that may have been overlooked […].’
Gallaccio’s design portrays the rings of a tree trunk placed upright, with its hollow space made into a seating area, which the artist created to ‘invite visitors to interact and engage with the memorial’.
Today campaigners said the announcement presents a ‘major milestone’ in fighting the stigma still associated with HIV.
Jonathan Blake, one of the UK’s longest-surviving HIV patients, said the London site selected for the memorial was of huge importance to those still stigmatised for having the illness.
‘What Diana did – that was a complete game-changer,’ he told BBC News.
‘She undoubtedly changed peoples perceptions of HIV/Aids – and it was a real turning point.’
The campaign to build the memorial started in 2016, when Aids Memory UK founder Ash Kotak said it was an important part of making sure the virus’ affect on people was never forgotten.
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Princess Diana visiting the Broderie AIDS ward at the Middlesex Hospital in London, April 9, 1987
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Diana opening the Broderip Ward at the Middlesex Hospital, London
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Diana caused a shift in public attitudes towards the disease when she shook hands with patients on the former Middlesex Hospital ward in Fitzrovia
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has committed £130,000 funding from the Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm towards the memorial.
Ash Kotak said: ‘The announcement is a major milestone for the already seven-and-a-half-year-long campaign to deliver The Aids Memorial in London.
‘The foundations have now been laid: a historically relevant site; a brilliant internationally recognised artist who was directly affected by HIV & Aids in London; and her beautiful and meaningful new public artwork.
‘Now is the time for Londoners, and friends of this great city, to come together to fundraise and build this important new public artwork. It will survive longer than all of us and remain a tribute to the epoch we are all living through, a time of HIV & Aids, as we fight on to its end.’
Mr Khan said: ‘I’m delighted that Anya Gallaccio has been commissioned to create The Aids Memorial in London, and I’m proud that funding from City Hall is helping to bring this project to fruition.
‘Anya’s proposal is a powerful symbol of solidarity and a fitting way to honour those who have lost their lives to the virus and highlight the impact it has had on our communities, as we work to end transmissions in the capital and build a fairer London for everyone.’
In 2003, Gallaccio was shortlisted for the Turner Prize and she has recently been awarded the Kenneth Armitage Foundation fellowship 2023-2025.
The Aids Memorial in London is expected to be unveiled at the end of 2027.
