Each Might 15 for the final 76 years, Palestinians world wide commemorate the Nakba (Arabic for “the disaster”), throughout which 750,000 Palestinians had been completely displaced from their homelands because of the institution of the State of Israel. Throughout this mass exodus, the traditional embroidery apply often called taṭrīz or tatreez grew to become a useful means for Palestinians to protect their historical past and tradition.
Within the final seven months, amid Israel’s relentless assaults on Gaza, many have engaged in and revived the shared apply. In November, artist Maya Amer used the embroidery as a technique to visualize the greater than 8,000 Palestinians who had been killed by Israeli airstrikes at the moment. Others led the collaborative challenge Tatriz for Palestine to honor the civilians killed by the Israeli navy in Gaza. Right this moment, the loss of life toll within the Gaza Strip has risen to greater than 34,904.
Zain Masri, now based mostly in Dubai, was first launched to the apply as a baby whereas visiting her grandmother in Jordan. A long time later, when she reconnected with the artwork type in the course of the pandemic, she rapidly realized that there was an pressing want for accessible, high-resolution, and easy taṭrīz patterns within the worldwide embroidery group and Palestinian diaspora.
To handle this subject, Masri launched the Tirazain Initiative final summer time — a free on-line searchable library obtainable in English and Arabic containing digitized patterns for a couple of thousand taṭrīz motifs.
Along with accessing assets that hint the cultural significance and historical past of the artwork apply, customers can discover patterns within the database by filtering search outcomes based mostly on subject material, locations of origin, and challenge length.
“Taṭrīz motifs are wealthy in symbolism and that means,” Masri advised Hyperallergic final August, including that symbols depicting wildlife, geometric shapes, and on a regular basis objects are rooted in connections to land, nature, and group tales, serving as a “visible language” for Palestinian storytelling. Among the most typical motifs are impressed by Palestinian vegetation and wildlife, such because the cypress tree, the palm tree, and leeches. Different frequent insignias embrace geometric squares, chevrons, and eight-pointed stars.
Courting again 3,000 years, the intergenerational artwork type consists of patterns and symbols hand-stitched with naturally dyed threads onto clothes, together with loose-fitting attire often called thobes, veils, trousers, jackets, and headdresses, as a technique to determine one’s regional homeland, familial lineage, financial place, and marital standing. Whereas girls residing in rural villages originated the apply, it has since unfold and advanced throughout the Palestinian cultural panorama, serving as an vital reflection of heritage and historical past. In 2021, UNESCO added the embroidery apply to its Consultant Checklist of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Masri advised Hyperallergic that she hoped the digital library would assist present “a platform for Palestinian girls to share their work and to attach with different taṭrīz lovers,” in addition to promote the artwork type throughout cultures and communities.
“Earlier than 1948, taṭrīz was a thriving custom in Palestine and each area had its personal distinctive motifs,” Masri stated, explaining how these displaced by Israeli settlers in the course of the Nakba used it to protect Palestinian tradition and identification.
The craft grew to become a logo of Palestinian perseverance and resistance, unifying members of the diaspora by brightly coloured threads documenting their household historical past and heritage. It additionally reworked as Palestinian refugees migrated to different components of the world and commenced exchanging cultural practices with different communities, growing new types of cross-stitches and experimenting with completely different thread and cloth coloration combos.
“Right this moment, taṭrīz is a reminder of the resilience of the Palestinian individuals, and their willpower to protect their traditions,” Masri stated.
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