Bringing out the beauty

Three creatives are drawing attention to the rich culture and beauty of Palestine with a colouring book for adults that aims to raise awareness as well as provide peace and serenity.

Colouring Palestine – an adult zen colouring book was imagined in Dubai, researched in Beirut and designed in Bahrain by sisters Rita and Roula Haddad and Ramah AlHusseini to celebrate their Palestinian roots through their passion for art.

“Growing up in a Palestinian and Lebanese expat community in Greece, I always found comfort in seeing familiar prints and patterns in our family friends’ homes,” said Roula, a 34-year-old Lebanese Canadian brand specialist at Twitter, who grew up in Athens and currently lives in Dubai. “A few years ago, while watching the documentary ‘Stitching Palestine’, I was inspired by how much more depth these patterns and traditions had. 

“I wanted to work on something that would celebrate this and my homeland by bringing it to life for others to better understand it as well. Then, during the 2020 lockdowns, I noticed how colouring books were being picked up as a mind activity and it clicked that these patterns found in Palestinian embroidery lend themselves perfectly to the pages of a colouring book.  When I spoke to Rita about it, we built on the idea together to turn it into Colouring Palestine!”

Adult colouring books increased in popularity especially during the Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020 struggling with stress and anxiety. These books allowed people to clear their minds in a colourfully creative way.

“2020 was a stressful year on many levels,” said Rita, 38, a market research consultant living in Beirut. “Including Covid-19 lockdowns, there was a situation in Lebanon. I actually spent a lot of evenings colouring on my balcony during the summer. 

“When my sister suggested this during the first week of 2021, it was a perfect escape for me to work on creating something both cultural and useful for others – something timeless.”

People can either use pencil or felt-tip pens to colour the 50-page book, which features an array of designs, some representing patterns found in traditional Palestinian embroidery and others found in ceramics and tiles.

“I’ve always loved the vibrant colours and patterns of the Palestinian embroidery,” said Rita. “Even though, like many Palestinians, we have never been to Palestine, what could have been relegated to a mere pattern has been elevated to a symbol of our roots; a memory of home.

“I suggested that we don’t just add embroidery patterns to the book, but also the well-known ceramic designs that could be fun to colour as well.”

They found the book The Art of Palestinian Embroidery by Leila El Khalidi, as very useful in understanding the different motifs available.

“While some of these designs are recognisable and several hundreds of years old, we used them as inspiration as well as the key motifs found in both embroidery and ceramic patterns to brief Ramah on the designs,” Rita added.

Saudi-Palestinian painter Ramah was delighted to make their dream a reality.

“Roula and I worked on it for around five months with Rita, who had the vision of the visual aesthetic and direction of what to include and so forth,” explained Ramah, 33, living in Manama. “I love working on anything Palestinian so I was happy that I got to be part of this fun project.

“For me, it’s definitely to bring awareness to our beautiful traditional crafts and culture. This book is just a small example of what Palestine has to offer. Palestine is a historical place that went through, and still is, going through a lot. Shedding light on some of its beauty is the least we can do to help bring awareness to it and to celebrate it, while at the same time help you unwind and relax with colours.”

According to the trio, many customers have already said they were ‘excited about the moments of tranquillity and creativity they achieved by colouring the pages built on traditional Palestinian patterns and that it helped them be more zen and relaxed to deal with their daily stresses’.

“The book is a celebration of our culture and brings the beauty in our identity to the front of the conversation,” added Roula. “People will not only learn about our different patterns and motifs, but they can help them live forever by adding colour to the pages. This books evolution is as diverse as the modern Palestinian diaspora – fuelled by love and commitment to its roots.

“We are currently adapting it for children with simpler designs and other products so stay tuned.”

For details, visit www.coloringpalestine.com and follow @coloringpalestine on Instagram.