Quilt

We Watched

Description

Quilt titled We Watched created by Robin Schwalb and made with fabric, batting, and thread. The border of this quilt is gray with text: "from a note left on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. | We watched you being murdered --- sorry your last hours were so terrible." The center of the quilt depicts Ground Zero with remnants of the tower facade still standing.

Historical Notes

Inspired by the AIDS Memorial Quilt, New York City–based arts educator Drunell Levinson conceived a September 11 Quilts Memorial that would bring together the work of artists from around the world. Drawing upon her academic research into mourning customs and her expertise as a quilter and fabric artist, Levinson issued a call for quilts on a website she created for the project. She offered thematic guidelines and requested a uniform size but left the choice of material, style, and subject to each quilter. Within the first year after 9/11, she had received 94 quilts. Over the next two years, the quilts—many using the Twin Towers as a focal point—were displayed throughout the United States and in Japan.