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Palestinian embroidery has been presented in an exciting new light in a museum’s first satellite exhibition called At the Seams. It has shown that embroidery is an extraordinary material – tactile, intimate, laborious and political.
Beyond its historical importance before 1948, embroidery has undergone rich and dynamic transformations in the decades since – constituting forms of heritage- driven nationalism, militant resistance, nascent economic power and challenge to the infrastructural and cultural violence of the Israeli state.
Key elements of the research concern the homogenisation of the thobe both pre-and post-1948, embroidery and the fashioning of a modern Palestinian woman, the use of embroidery in the revival of heritage by liberation artists, embroidery as resistance and the history of NGOs and circulation of embroidery in a global marketplace.
The research has unfolded from the understanding that textiles sensitively reflect the changes in the social and political landscape in which they are produced.
Taking material that is little documented and rarely exhibited, The Palestinian Museum’s exhibition curated by Rachel Dedman and hosted by Dar el Nimer for Arts and Culture in Beirut, Lebanon, until the end of this month, placed historic dresses in conversation with photography, painting, archival material and contemporary design.
Newly-commissioned film from artist Maeve Brennan gave space to the women across Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan continuing to embroider today, and whose voices are rarely heard.
The curatorial process has been driven by extensive fieldwork and archival research. The knowledge and collections of Widad Kawar and Malak Al Husseini Abdulrahim formed the backbone of the exhibition’s content.
Palestine’s recently inaugurated museum is dedicated to supporting and strengthening Palestinian culture and identity, under the direction of British Museum curator Dr Mahmoud Hawari.
The museum has a mandate to reach as many Palestinians around the world as possible, as well as those interested in their culture. There are plans in the pipeline to bring it to the Gulf region. It is believed Bahrain has around 5,000 residents with Palestinian heritage.
