Throughout time, art has provided an effective outlet for individuals and communities alike to express and affirm their cultural identities when faced with the reality or threat of oppression. In the struggle against occupation, acts of creative resistance have enabled the people of Palestine to preserve their culture by both maintaining and reshaping artistic traditions.
One Palestinian tradition of enduring importance is tatreez, a form of cross-stitch embroidery that has both a deep history and a variation of regionally distinctive techniques. Normally crafted by women who pass the practice to their daughters, tatreez allows the creator to stitch a story into their thobes (a traditional, robe-like garment). They use historical and environmental motifs of significance, found in the surrounding nature, that reflect the creator’s unique biography and connection to their region.
The origins of tatreez can be linked to the Levantine Canaanite civilisation from over 3000 years ago, but the practice has been influenced significantly in the modern period by occupation that has transformed it from a symbol of distinct regionalism into a powerful declaration of national pride. From occupation by the Ottoman Empire lasting from the 15th to 20th centuries, to the British Mandate period following the end of the Great War, Palestinians memorialised the experiences of their people through the art of embroidery, every stitch shaping a tale of enduring identity.
The establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, a significant turning point in Palestinian history, resulted in the displacement of at least 700,000 Palestinians from their homes upending every aspect of their daily lives. As a result, the preservation of tatreez was threatened due to a lack of available time and materials in the refugee camps where many Palestinians were forced.
Economic pressures in the 1960s, enabled Palestinian women to harness their embroidery skills, to adapt the practice into an easily replicable process producing marketable articles of clothing to financially support their families. Following the Six-Day War in 1967, more Palestinians from varying regional backgrounds were displaced from their homes and spread across the Levant in refugee camps alongside each other. This gave way to the creation of ‘camp dresses’ featuring new designs, like the Six Branch dress, which combined different regional styles of embroidery to produce a garment symbolic of Palestinian national unity. In the face of the Zionist occupation, tatreez was no longer regionally bound.
From 1948 onwards, embroidered garments became a visual representation of Palestinian nationalism and an integral way of preserving heritage and identity. The transformation of embroidery into a representation of unity can be seen in the development of regionally ambiguous circular floral designs that symbolise the coalescence of Palestinians necessitated amid a state of exile.
During the intifada (uprising) between 1987 and 1993, tatreez gained great political significance and was used as a direct act of resistance against the occupation. As the use of any symbols representing Palestine became illegal, women directly protested the ban by incorporating the colours of the flag into their thobes. Traditional symbols like olive branches and orange trees were also embroidered along with maps of Palestine and powerful phrases like “We will return”. These symbols of nationalism continue to be prevalent in Palestinian embroidery up to the present day.
Today, there have been attempts to modernise, replicate, and capitalise on tatreez patterns, even by Israeli clothing companies themselves. This highlights the exploitative attempts to misdirect the practice from its communal, hand-crafted origins passed down through generations.
As many Palestinians living in refugee camps face political and financial hardship from employment restrictions, especially in Lebanon, tatreez once again provides economic opportunities for women in these camps, allowing them to provide for their families and preserve a practice integral to their identity and heritage. For Palestinians, tatreez not only represents a form of cultural resistance against occupation but also symbolises the endurance and hope of a population in exile.
“Palestine flag” by theglobalpanorama is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.