Stitching together an archive of an endangered Palestinian art

The stitch patterns were collected by embroidery artist Zain Masri and a group of volunteers who have digitized motifs stitch by stitch since 2021. Now, when a user finds a pattern they want to make, they can download PDFs or other file types with each individual stitch plotted out on a graph.

Masri wanted to collect embroidery patterns from books in one place, where anyone could find and use motifs for their tatreez work — especially younger Palestinians whose families may not practice embroidery due to historic mass displacement. The traditional method of sharing tatreez orally through generations doesn’t work if the physical garments a child would learn from have been lost or destroyed.

Artists who have taken up the task of protecting tatreez and sharing cultural knowledge approach the challenge in different ways. On Tirazain, for example, Masri has been intentional about including the geographic origin of specific designs — Palestinian embroidery motifs can often be traced back to specific regions or villages, and historically, one could look at a dress and see where its wearer was from.

“This art form has been traditionally passed through oral history, and exile, dispossession, war — all of these things has caused this oral history to be compromised or broken for many families,” Ghnaim says. “I have been given the privilege of facilitating that oral history, because this isn’t documented in any book.” Above all else, Ghnaim says, virtual spaces can facilitate the communal practice of embroidery that so many Palestinians have been deprived of.

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Suspected Palestinian gunman kills an Israeli, wounds another in latest attack in occupied West BankIsraeli authorities say that a suspected Palestinian attacker has killed an Israeli woman and seriously wounded a man in the south of the occupied West Bank.
Source: wjxt4 - 🏆 246. / 63 Read more »

Suspected Palestinian gunman kills an Israeli, wounds another in latest attack in occupied West BankIsraeli authorities say that a suspected Palestinian attacker has killed an Israeli woman and seriously wounded a man in the south of the occupied West Bank.
Source: ksatnews - 🏆 442. / 53 Read more »

Suspected Palestinian gunman kills an Israeli, wounds another in latest attack in occupied West BankIsraeli authorities say that a suspected Palestinian attacker has killed an Israeli woman and seriously wounded a man in the south of the occupied West Bank
Source: sdut - 🏆 5. / 95 Read more »

Israeli police deny imprinting Star of David on Palestinian man’s faceOfficers claim bruise similar to a triangle was caused by a boot pressed against his face, but forensics experts reject this, says local media.
Source: trtworld - 🏆 101. / 63 Read more »

Suspected Palestinian shooting attack at West Bank car wash kills 2 IsraelisThe Israeli military says two Israelis have been killed in a suspected Palestinian shooting attack in the occupied West Bank.
Source: latimes - 🏆 11. / 82 Read more »

2 Israelis killed at West Bank car wash as Israeli-Palestinian violence surgesThe deaths are part of a relentless spiral of violence that has fueled the worst fighting between Israel and the Palestinians ​in the West Bank in nearly two decades.
Source: CBSNews - 🏆 87. / 68 Read more »