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Keeping Palestinian heritage alive through colorful craftsmanship
Haya Najdawi, Jordan News
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Against a dusty-white background, black and magenta threads tell an intricately
embroidered story: the story of a son imprisoned behind bars.
At the top of the piece is a large, brightly pink flower with dots of orange, green, and blue. While the flower seems to symbolize growth and hope, its center is crisscrossed with a black web of prison bars.اضافة اعلان
This work of embroidery was displayed at the Palestinian Culture Center’s 12th annual exhibition, titled “The Palestinian Story”, in Amman.
It was crafted by a Palestinian mother during one of the intifadas. Her son was a prisoner in Israeli jails, “so when the intifada started, she filled in the flower with prison bars for her son — she told her story with the embroidery”, said President of the Palestinian Culture Center Mariam Jaber.
The exhibit, which ran from Thursday to Saturday, showcased a variety of Palestinian goods, including ceramics, books, wooden pieces, embroideries, accessories, and traditional clothes, in addition to an array of national dishes.
Jaber spoke about this year’s theme: “It’s all in the name. We wanted to shed light on some of the heroes of different Palestinian stories during the difficult circumstances recently.”
“For example, there is the assassination of the Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh; the mother of the Palestinian martyr Ibrahim Al-Nabulsi, who carried her son’s coffin while smiling; the little Palestinian boy who died, literally frightened to death as he was chased by Israeli soldiers; we also focused on the prisoners in the Israeli prisons,” she told Jordan News.
The theme was visible throughout the exhibit, with posters depicting Palestinian stories through images and words, some showing Israeli forces targeting, executing, and imprisoning children (over 100 thousand since the first uprising).
One poster talked about Israel breaching UN conventions by uprooting Palestinian inhabitants, confiscating their property, and occupying their land. Another explained the attacks on religious holy places, violating the sanctity of Islamic and Christian sites in Jerusalem and Hebron, razing structures to the ground, and destroying artifacts.
A third poster was dedicated specifically to explaining how Israel contaminates the ecology of the Palestinian territories: disposing 35 tonnes of chemical, military, and fossil fuel waste at 34 sites, channeling gray sludge from Israeli settlements, disposing of nuclear waste from Demona nuclear reactor around the villages south of Hebron.
“Our media department highlighted several Palestinian stories through these posters, and we plan to continue doing so each year so we can achieve the center’s goal of keeping our heritage alive,” the president explained.
When first entering the exhibit, booths containing a rainbow of colorful embroideries met the eye.
The bright threads traced ornate patterns across pillows, blankets, t-shirts, and wall hangings, as well as cups, boxes, and trays of various sizes and prices. Even keychains and bracelets boasted the intricate Palestinian Tatreez (embroidery).
Samah Ali, a volunteer at the exhibit, commented on the embroideries: “This helps empower our women financially because they get to work from home and then benefit in return. We have grandmothers, mothers, and even daughters working together,” she said.
“We offer them the materials needed for the embroideries, they take their time making them, then they give them back to us so we can sell them,” Ali added.
The designs are tailored to different tastes, she said. Some styles, like those with blue designs, are more popular with foreigners, while Arabs prefer patterns stitched in red and pink.
Silver necklaces, bracelets, rings, and earrings of traditional craftsmanship shone from another corner.
“Each city has its own ring,” said Jaber. “As for the other accessories, Palestinian ladies used to wear them with the traditional clothing, but now they fit even the modern style.”
One section featured ceramics and wooden pieces from Hebron.
“We import these ceramics specifically from Hebron so we can support their factories. Everything that you can see in this section is handmade and crafted carefully,” the president said.
“We do not want the factories to close down so we sell these here,” she added.
The exhibition’s food section showcased Palestinian national dishes like Musakhan, Maftoul, Safiha, salads, stuffed vine leaves, baked goods, Palestinian sweets, pickles, and spicy sauces.
“The food is made by our ladies and ‘grandmas’ at the center. What makes it special is that all of it was made with love. It is their culture, and they are passionate about it,” said Jaber.
The center’s kitchen is open year-round for delivery, takeout, and special orders, she added.
One visitor, Federico Bergua from Spain, commented on the posters all around the exhibit: “The signs are very harsh and eye-opening; I did not know most of these things are happening.”
“I heard about the exhibit from my parents, who have always been inspired by Palestinian culture. For me personally, I am mainly inspired by their fight for freedom, so when I heard about the exhibit I had to come,” he added.
The exhibit was organized in cooperation with the Embassy of Palestine in Jordan and the Jordanian Construction Contractors Syndicate.
Read more Fashion
Jordan News
At the top of the piece is a large, brightly pink flower with dots of orange, green, and blue. While the flower seems to symbolize growth and hope, its center is crisscrossed with a black web of prison bars.
This work of embroidery was displayed at the Palestinian Culture Center’s 12th annual exhibition, titled “The Palestinian Story”, in Amman.
It was crafted by a Palestinian mother during one of the intifadas. Her son was a prisoner in Israeli jails, “so when the intifada started, she filled in the flower with prison bars for her son — she told her story with the embroidery”, said President of the Palestinian Culture Center Mariam Jaber.
The exhibit, which ran from Thursday to Saturday, showcased a variety of Palestinian goods, including ceramics, books, wooden pieces, embroideries, accessories, and traditional clothes, in addition to an array of national dishes.
Jaber spoke about this year’s theme: “It’s all in the name. We wanted to shed light on some of the heroes of different Palestinian stories during the difficult circumstances recently.”
“For example, there is the assassination of the Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh; the mother of the Palestinian martyr Ibrahim Al-Nabulsi, who carried her son’s coffin while smiling; the little Palestinian boy who died, literally frightened to death as he was chased by Israeli soldiers; we also focused on the prisoners in the Israeli prisons,” she told Jordan News.
The theme was visible throughout the exhibit, with posters depicting Palestinian stories through images and words, some showing Israeli forces targeting, executing, and imprisoning children (over 100 thousand since the first uprising).
One poster talked about Israel breaching UN conventions by uprooting Palestinian inhabitants, confiscating their property, and occupying their land. Another explained the attacks on religious holy places, violating the sanctity of Islamic and Christian sites in Jerusalem and Hebron, razing structures to the ground, and destroying artifacts.
A third poster was dedicated specifically to explaining how Israel contaminates the ecology of the Palestinian territories: disposing 35 tonnes of chemical, military, and fossil fuel waste at 34 sites, channeling gray sludge from Israeli settlements, disposing of nuclear waste from Demona nuclear reactor around the villages south of Hebron.
“Our media department highlighted several Palestinian stories through these posters, and we plan to continue doing so each year so we can achieve the center’s goal of keeping our heritage alive,” the president explained.
When first entering the exhibit, booths containing a rainbow of colorful embroideries met the eye.
The bright threads traced ornate patterns across pillows, blankets, t-shirts, and wall hangings, as well as cups, boxes, and trays of various sizes and prices. Even keychains and bracelets boasted the intricate Palestinian Tatreez (embroidery).
It’s all in the name. We wanted to shed light on some of the heroes of different Palestinian stories during the difficult circumstances recently.“We try to include the embroideries on new items that people use nowadays on a daily basis — it’s how we try to ‘modernize’ our culture to make it available everywhere”, Jaber explained.
Samah Ali, a volunteer at the exhibit, commented on the embroideries: “This helps empower our women financially because they get to work from home and then benefit in return. We have grandmothers, mothers, and even daughters working together,” she said.
“We offer them the materials needed for the embroideries, they take their time making them, then they give them back to us so we can sell them,” Ali added.
The designs are tailored to different tastes, she said. Some styles, like those with blue designs, are more popular with foreigners, while Arabs prefer patterns stitched in red and pink.
Silver necklaces, bracelets, rings, and earrings of traditional craftsmanship shone from another corner.
“Each city has its own ring,” said Jaber. “As for the other accessories, Palestinian ladies used to wear them with the traditional clothing, but now they fit even the modern style.”
One section featured ceramics and wooden pieces from Hebron.
“We import these ceramics specifically from Hebron so we can support their factories. Everything that you can see in this section is handmade and crafted carefully,” the president said.
“We do not want the factories to close down so we sell these here,” she added.
The exhibition’s food section showcased Palestinian national dishes like Musakhan, Maftoul, Safiha, salads, stuffed vine leaves, baked goods, Palestinian sweets, pickles, and spicy sauces.
“The food is made by our ladies and ‘grandmas’ at the center. What makes it special is that all of it was made with love. It is their culture, and they are passionate about it,” said Jaber.
The center’s kitchen is open year-round for delivery, takeout, and special orders, she added.
One visitor, Federico Bergua from Spain, commented on the posters all around the exhibit: “The signs are very harsh and eye-opening; I did not know most of these things are happening.”
“I heard about the exhibit from my parents, who have always been inspired by Palestinian culture. For me personally, I am mainly inspired by their fight for freedom, so when I heard about the exhibit I had to come,” he added.
The exhibit was organized in cooperation with the Embassy of Palestine in Jordan and the Jordanian Construction Contractors Syndicate.
Read more Fashion
Jordan News
