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. Launched in 2022 by the Institute for the Study of Global Racial Justice (ISGRJ) at Rutgers-Camden, the project brings together a vibrant community of artists and scholars to think and collaborate at the intersection of ecological and racial justice. For more information, visit the official ISGRJ webpage!

Submerged is a poetry, sound, and photography collection by the 2024 Quilting Water student artist cohort. Guided by our individual relationships with water, we have written a series of connecting poems in various styles. In addition to our original written works, this collection also contains our voiceovers with original backing tracks composed by Papa Mbahwe, as well as photographs of water by Ryan Rivera (both members of the student artist cohort).

For the full experience, we encourage you to read and listen to our poems in the order listed below!