Embroidering a Faraway Land: The Evolution of Palestinian Embroidery

Abstract

This analytic component of my MA project examines the role of Palestinian embroidery in shaping Palestinian life, identity, and culture. It argues that the practice of embroidery in Palestinian culture extends beyond simply symbolizing the land; it is a way of remembering and marking location on the body. Palestinian women have embroidered their identities and stories on their bodies, unaware that one day these stories would represent the histories of places and communities destroyed for the creation of a new state. Embroidered thobes, traditional Palestinian dresses, have long been political expressions, serving as symbols of social status and identity. Before 1948, the symbols and motifs stitched on the dresses narrated stories of their wearers. After 1948, their significance evolved to represent the historic and political environment. Thus naturally, the creation of thobes by Palestinian women has become an act of resistance and an assertion of identity, and of heritage preservation across generations. This project also posits embroidery as a site of struggle within social reproduction, as it maintains communities, by means of both paid and unpaid labour. Research-creation lies at the core of this project, where I recreated pieces of a Palestinian thobe from the village of Al-Masmiyyeh where three of my grandparents were born and displaced. The thobe is currently found in the British Museum. The re-creation of this thobe represents resistance to cultural erasure, skills transfer and conservation of this art form. Within this project, I have also elected to interweave oral history interviews with my maternal grandfather in order to bring together both the village's material objects and its people together to show their inseparability.