Commonwealth citizens have been invited to consider a prompt ‘thread’ and respond to the call to action from the Commonwealth Poet Laureate – ‘What thread do you bring to the Commonwealth?’. Their creative responses will culminate in a virtual Commonwealth ‘Quilt’. The invitation to participate was launched by the Commonwealth Foundation on 3 March 2026 at an event in Antigua and Barbuda where the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda made his remarks.
Expressions of interest are open via the Commonwealth Foundation, with submissions formally opening on Commonwealth Day, 9 March and closing two months later on 9 May.
In the lead up to the 2026 Commonwealth People’s Forum, being held in Antigua and Barbuda in November, the Commonwealth Foundation hopes to tap into the collective creativity of Commonwealth citizens and add to the fabric of the modern Commonwealth. Participants are asked to respond creatively to a prompt by the Commonwealth Poet Laureate, Selina Tusitala Marsh – ‘What will you thread?’. By drawing on personal experience and cultural identity, the initiative hopes to inspire creativity. Entries will be curated and symbolically woven together to create a truly Commonwealth-wide ‘Quilt’. Participants are encouraged to submit entries in a variety of digital formats – visual art, literary art and performance art – allowing for open creative expression across the Commonwealth. The project will culminate in a curated in-person exhibition at the People’s Forum in Antigua and Barbuda in November 2026, as well as a corresponding digital gallery on the Commonwealth Foundation Website.
The initiative was launched at an event in Antigua and Barbuda attended by the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, Ambassador Clarence Pilgrim. Also present was Her Excellency Karen-Mae Hill, High Commissioner for Antigua and Barbuda to the United Kingdom and the Minister for Foreign Affairs Everly Paul Chet Greene. The launch formed part of a wider series of engagements held by the Commonwealth Foundation with Caribbean civil society as part of the Path to Antigua, leading up to the Commonwealth People’s Forum later this year.
Director-General of the Commonwealth Foundation, Razmi Farook said:
‘Creativity is our most resilient tool in this very volatile world, and we hope that through the Commonwealth Quilt, we can call forth the collective creativity across the Commonwealth to shape our collective futures.’
Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, said:
‘The Commonwealth embraces countless peoples and many cultural nationalities. A quilt that embodies the diversity and inclusiveness of this vital multilateral institution, is a welcome sign of our limitless comity and desired well-being. Congratulations to the participants! And, may the spirit of the Commonwealth find expression in myriad styles and materials.’
The creative prompt – ‘What thread do you bring to the Commonwealth?’ – was inspired by a poem written by the Commonwealth Poet Laureate, Selina Tusitala Marsh. Her poem ‘How To Make A Commonwealth Quilt’ showcases the collective cultural, spiritual and ecological diversity of the Commonwealth and calls upon its citizens to use this for creative inspiration. Looking inwards to our own context, it asks readers ‘What thread do you bring?’ to the wider Commonwealth.
Commonwealth Poet Laureate, Selina Tusitala Marsh, said:
‘The quilt doesn’t ask for perfection — it asks for what you actually have. Your gold. Your grief. Your yet-to-be-told stories. Your belief. The stuff you thought wasn’t good enough. That’s the cloth. The Commonwealth Quilt is not mine alone to make. The question is yours now. What will you thread?’
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