Palestinian Tatreez Embroidery

This hand-stitched Palestinian embroidery known as tatreez is traditionally used to decorate Palestinian dress, it tells the stories of towns and villages lost, ancient customs, past lives and steadfastness. These pieces are designed by the artist Suleiman Mansour, hand-made by skilled artisans of Surif village. The embroidered part measures 14cm x 29cm, total size of cloth 35 x 23 cm and can be framed as wall art.

Traditional Palestinian embroidery is now on UNESCO’s list of cultural heritage, and there is a push to revive interest in the craft among younger generations.

Artisans: This contemporary take on a traditional Palestinian craft is made by a cooperative of women near the town of Hebron in the West Bank . The village is alongside the Green Line (1949 Armistice Line separating West Bank and Israel), in a beautiful hilly region between Bethlehem and Hebron. About a half of the village population is refugees from the 1948 war, who fled their homeland that later became a part of the State of Israel.

In 1950, a group of Mennonite volunteers came to the village to establish the Palestinian Needlework Program, in order to give the refugee women an opportunity to supplement their family income and to enhance their own self-reliance through empowerment. In 1979, the village women took over the responsibilities to run the project. This cooperative is known for their distinct style, using cream-colored 'mansouri' cotton fabric instead of the popular 'eitamin' cross-stitch canvas. The embroidery patterns are produced by a system of counting threads, a method that gives the embroidery its striking and exact appearance on both sides of the fabric. Surif's designs are adapted from traditional Palestinian dresses and reflect the heritage from different regions of Palestine.

https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/the-art-of-embroidery-in-palestine-practices-skills-knowledge-and-rituals-01722

In detail: Embroidery on cotton, unframed,

1/ 14cm x 29cm, total size of cloth 35 x 23 cm