LONDON: Walking around the “Material Power: Palestinian Embroidery” exhibition currently on show at the UK’s University of Cambridge Museum evokes a wide range of emotions.
In an interview with Arab News, exhibition curator Rachel Dedman, formerly based between Beirut and Ramallah and now the Curator of Contemporary Art from the Middle East at the V&A, London, singled out three garments to give an insight into some of the stories embodied in the dresses.
The Nakba thobe, made in Ramallah in the 1930s. (Photo by Maha Abu Shoheh)
She first pointed to a patched 1930s dress from Gaza chosen to represent the day-to-day life of women who worked in the fields.
“I can see her kneeling to prepare food or wash clothing, wearing away the threads to nothing before being patched up again with other pieces of indigo or cuttings from her husband’s shirts,” she said.
Exhibition curator Rachel Dedman, formerly based between Beirut and Ramallah and now the Curator of Contemporary Art from the Middle East at the V&A, London. (Supplied)
The second dress, embroidered in the early 20th century, was donated to a woman who had to flee her home during the Nakba of 1948. Arriving in Ramallah as a refugee with little but the clothes on her back, she made the dress fit her larger frame by stitching into it a section of material from a United Nations Relief and Works Agency bag of flour.
“This speaks to the generosity and resilience of women at what must have been one of the most difficult times of their lives. Somehow this dress hits you with the human in a visceral way,” said Dedman.
Everyday dress from Gaza. (Supplied)
The third garment was a dress from the 1987-1993 Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation, the First Intifada.
“The notion of steadfastness is encapsulated by these objects. They would have been made in very difficult circumstances.
“It was a period when you couldn’t wave the Palestinian flag, so women had to find subtler ways of political protest. You see traditional motifs such as the Cyprus tree or palm leaf rendered in national colors or this new language of motifs – the map of Palestine or the Dome of the Rock,” explained Dedman.
Part of the exhibition focuses on the role charities such as NGOs play in paying women to embroider pieces. (Supplied)
Part of the exhibition focuses on the role charities such as NGOs play in paying women to embroider pieces. Dedman has mixed feelings about this.
“Embroidery is now predominantly circulated as a commodity and the vast majority of women who make it today do so within the charity sector. It has shifted from a labor of love to plain labor,” she said.
“The thing I find most tricky is the notion that this practice is ‘empowering.’ Is this the best craft to be pursuing to support women? I would argue not – embroidery is a luxury product. It does not sell on mass, it’s expensive and takes a long time to make.
“Embroidery is always the thing people gravitate toward because of its connection to historical tradition and the notion of resistance and as something women can do, they can do it at home – they don’t need to be trained. But these are criticisms one can level at all sorts of NGOs, that they tend to perpetuate cycles and don’t necessarily launch beneficiaries away from needing their services.
“On the other hand, the women we met as we travelled across the region said the money they earn does make a big difference to their lives and for many it’s about heritage and connection to their homeland. It’s a complex thing,” she concluded.
The exhibition features more than 40 dresses and embroidered objects from collections in Jordan and the West Bank alongside related artworks and films, is held in Kettle’s Yard a leading gallery and unique house which is part of the University of Cambridge. It is presented in collaboration with the Whitworth Gallery, part of the University of Manchester, where it will travel from Nov. 24-April 7, 2024.
