Quilting Water is an international public art initiative that gathers interviews about water primarily from racialized communities from the U.S. and around the world. The interview is built upon five simple questions about an individual’s memories, observations, and dreams/wishes around water—simply, our past, present, and future. We’re honored to work with local Camden Black artists who will construct quilts inspired by the Quilting Water archive and serve as guides throughout the project. We hope the archive and quilts will allow us to see relationships between disparate communities and their stories through water.
The Institute for the Study of Global Racial Justice at Rutgers-Camden, in conjunction with the Office of Undergraduate Intellectual life, launched the inaugural, university-wide Quilting Water Undergraduate Prize early in 2022.
Quilting Water has gathered interviews about water from South Africa, Senegal, Cape Verde, Japan, Puerto Rico, Belgium. the Philippines, the Atayal people of Taiwan, as well as right here in New Jersey. The content of these water stories will be stored and made available to local Black artists who will craft quilts in dialogue with this global archive. Those artists will be led by Camden resident and quilting artist Renata Merrill.
The six winners of the Quilting Water Undergraduate Prize were selected from three Rutgers University campuses in April 2022 and have been conducting interviews, examining relationships between disparate communities and their stories through water, contributing to a growing collection of Quilting Water interviews from around the world. The cohort also received group mentoring by nationally-renowned poet and artist Krista Franklin, who served as a consultant to Quilting Water.
RUTGERS-CAMDEN SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Major: English, Minor: Film Studies
"I like how art is a reflection of everyday life and can make a point or send a message. For the Quilting Water project, I have the opportunity to creatively depict the importance of water in communities of color."
RUTGERS-CAMDEN SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Major: Graphic Design
"Art has always been used to voice opinions, make change, and document history. Its our way of paving the way for progress while recording it in history. Art is a part of the collective consciousness and we all contribute to it."
RUTGERS-NEWARK SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
"Who we are is a mix of how the world sees us and how we view ourselves. Art represents how our surroundings shape us and, in turn, is how we shape our surroundings."
RUTGERS-CAMDEN SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Majors: English, Gender Studies, and French
"Ecology, race, and art are united by the one thing that has been perpetuated by the human race almost since the time of creation--injustice. As an aspiring journalist, I strongly believe that documentation itself is an act of revolution. Therefore, art is an extremely
important way to cry out against such injustices by marking that they happened; they should not be swept under the rug.
RUTGERS-NEWARK SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES AND HONORS LIVING AND LEARNING COMMUNITY
Major: Behavioral and Neural Sciences, Minor: Creative Writing
"Ecology and race are the backdrop of every canvas. How they influence the air piece depends on the water of integrity, awareness, honor, and open-mindedness."
RUTGERS-NEW BRUNSWICK, MASON GROSS SCHOOL OF THE ARTS
"I am interested about the natural world as well as all cultures, races, or communities. I love to see how the blend of these elements can create unique pieces of art."
With generous support from the ISGRJ, the Black German Heritage and Research Association (BGHRA) in collaboration with Africana Studies at Rutgers University in Camden hosted its 6th international conference, "Art as Resistance: Transcultural Expressions" from February 23-25, 2023. Building on the success of last year’s speaker series and conference, “All Black Lives Matter: Black Germany and Beyond,” this year’s 3-day, virtual symposium reflected the increasingly expanding vision of the BGHRA and sought to illuminate Black diasporic histories, artistry, and resistance in Europe and other neglected spaces, not just Germany.
Watch the powerful panel from the conference on the Quilting Water Project featuring Cherita Harrell, Jacob Camacho, and moderated by Rosemarie Peña, BGHRA President.
Patrick Rosal, codirector of ISGRJ at Rutgers–Camden, reads his poetry and discusses his Directors' Signature Research Project, Quilting Water, as a public arts initiative.
