Embroidered Resistance
By Kirthi Jayakumar
Palestinian women have played a central and key role in resisting Israeli occupation and apartheid, and the resulting violence, displacement, human rights violations, and injustices. One of their vehicles of both resistance and preservation of their cultural heritage is Tatreez, a form of embroidery.
Preserving culture and practicing resistance
Tatreez, Arabic for “embroidery” dates back to the 11th century at least (Afikra, n.d.). Dating back to the Canaanites, Tatreez emerged as a means for documenting significant occasions through design (Shang, 2023). A unique style of embroidery, it brings together colourful threads woven in a range of different patterns and forms to create traditional motifs.
Primarily an activity among women, the art of Tatreez is taught to young Palestinian girls from the age of six or seven, by the elders in their community. The time and energy spent in learning the art form makes it a site of education, through which women and girls find, nurture, and build community (Quinn, 2019).
Patterns, skills, and embroidering styles are passed on as traditional knowledge from generation to generation. It is a means of self-expression and communication, and is a fundamental cultural and economic component of Palestinian women’s lives. Tatreez motifs and colors are also often area specific, and are symbols representing important events and cultural practices (Quinn, 2019). In Jaffa, the organge blossom motif is particularly significant, while in Ramallah, women were inspired by the Quakers' cross-stitch designs, following their interactions with the community through the boarding schools they established in the city (Afikra, n.d.). In some regions, the motifs are also symbols of different stages of life (Afikra, n.d.). In Hebron, West Bank, for example, the colour green is commonly worn by young women, whereas purple is more commonly worn by older women (Quinn, 2019), and Pasha's tents and moons on dark blue dresses are common (Tomes, 2018). Bright red is more common in Ramallah, whereas brownish reds are more common in Khalil (Quinn, 2019). The large pendant pattern on the chest is unique to Gaza (Tomes, 2018). In Galilee, dresses had lesser embroidery as women worked out in the fields (Tomes, 2018).
An exceptionally intricate artform, the designs are both difficult to copy and replicate through mass production, making it a powerful act of subversion of systems thinking forces like globalization and mass consumption – a factor that has also made it difficult for occupying powers and western producers to reproduce, erase, or reduce significance through mass production. There have been attempts to appropriate the artform, too. For example, in 2017, Palestinian Bedouin women from the Negev desert said that they had been deceived by an Israeli fashion designer who asked them to create an embroidered dress, which the designer then used to raise funds in support of the Jewish settlement in Negev (TRT World, 2021).
Histories of Subversion
The contemporary history of Tatreez mirrors the political history of Palestine since 1948, as the artform has also transformed alongside the time since Israel occupied Palestine in 1948. During the Nakba that followed the declaration of the State of Israel in May 1948, over 750,000 Palestinians were displaced through expulsion, and nearly 400 cities and villages were destroyed and depopulated (Afikra, n.d.). The displacement also resulted in economic hardship, requiring women to support their families (Quinn, 2019). Tatreez took a backseat in the process, as women joined the workforce to support their families. Recognizing the importance of passing on the artform to preserve their heritage and cultural identity, women began to run workshops, training institutions, and businesses to keep Tatreez alive and to pass it onto future generations (Shang, 2023).
By the 1960s, Tatreez made a return, but the occupation had changed so much for the art form. Resources were harder to find and access, which necessitated a turn to cheaper cotton and simpler motifs (Quinn, 2019; Tomes, 2018). Previously, women used silk, linen, and brocade, and stitched in gold and precious metals, too (Tomes, 2018). Regional styles that were once distinct were now beginning to blend as more and more women from different parts were forced into refugee camps – giving way to a “camp style” that blended multiple influences that included regional and host-country ones based on where the camps were situated.
In these spaces, Tatreez earned a distinct identity that represented Palestinian nationalism, culture, and feminist resistance. It became a means of preserving Palestinian heritage in the face of significant cultural erasure, mass atrocities, and displacement (Quinn, 2019). It soon became a means of economic emancipation – as women were now able to conduct workshops, train other women, share knowledge, and produce and sell clothing and garments with Tatreez.
However, the full-fledged political significance of Tatreez emerged during the First Intifada from 1987 to 1993. Israel had confiscated visible Palestinian symbols, including its national flag (Quinn, 2019). Resistance found a way to persist and continue in defiance of Israeli occupation through the Intifada Dress – a Palestinian thobe embroidered with Palestinian flags, maps, and traditional symbols that included olive branches and orange trees, and phrases like “We will Return” (Quinn, 2019). These designs were woven in traditional Palestinian colors. Women openly and peacefully resisted the Israeli ban on all forms of Palestinian nationalism, asserting their political agency in the process.
Journeys of resistance
With the continued displacement of Palestinian people, Tatreez continues to remain a significant source of income and political agency for women (Quinn, 2019). Growing restrictions on the right to work for refugees in different camps world over have made it intensely difficult to find work among Palestinians displaced into camps in different countries. In light of this, especially, Tatreez has been particularly supportive. For example, camps in Lebanon have been sites for Tatreez. Audiences world over support Tatreez through their purchases and the creation of digital and/or offline marketplaces for Palestinian women to sell their creations. In 2021, the UNESCO added Tatreez to its "Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity." (TRT World, 2021).
Tatreez undoubtedly symbolises the resilience and resistance of the women of Palestine, who continue to use the artform to resist Israel’s every attempt to erase Palestinian culture and traditions while also taking care of their families and communities. It has endured occupation, displacement, bombings, mass atrocities, and ethnic erasure, and remains a testament to Palestinian feminism. It is important to note and acknowledge that the feminist resistance of Palestinian women in subverting its colonization and occupation is tied to Palestinian nationalism, which centres on the protection and continued preservation of its cultural heritage and tradition. Generations of Palestinian women have embroidered and continue to embroider their stories to resist erasure through Tatreez, asserting their identity and self-determination in the process (Shang, 2023).
However, as Fatima Abbadi, a photographer and researcher with Jordanian-Palestinian and Italian roots cautions: "Westernization and ensuing modernization are important processes and both have played a crucial role in defining the current shape of tatreez. The new generation of Palestinian fashion designers is introducing fresh forms and combines traditional patterns with European styles, for instance, and thanks to technological and social advances, Palestinian women can produce and export the embroidery on a large scale. But globalization comes with a backlash. Most people have lost the ability to "read" tatreez, to recognize the meaning of colors, shapes and symbols, chiefly due to the loss of secular women's practices and heritage. Many young people today consume imagery only superficially, and as a result, they are unable to acknowledge the complexity of the embroidery. Likewise, many prominent western fashion brands have recently used tatreez without identifying the original source. That all now threatens the culture of the tradition" (Tomes, 2018).
References
1. Afikra (n.d.) Stitching Identities: Palestinian Tatreez as Resistance. https://www.afikra.com/blog/palestinian-tatreez
2. Quinn, E. (2019). This is Artful Resistance: The Power of Tatreez. https://blogs.soas.ac.uk/gender-studies/2019/11/05/this-is-artful-resistance-the-power-of-tatreez/
3. Shang, R. (2023). Embroidering Resistance: Palestinian Tatreez. https://www.irreview.org/articles/embroidering-resistance-palestinian-tatreez?format=amp
4. Tomes, J. (2018). Embroidery helps Palestinian women achieve independence. https://www.dw.com/en/how-traditional-embroidery-helps-palestinian-women-achieve-independence/a-42855820
5. TRT World (2021). Palestinian embroidery: From a symbol of resistance to UNESCO heritage. https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/palestinian-embroidery-from-a-symbol-of-resistance-to-unesco-heritage-12771744
