Bethlehem Tatreez Embroidery

Traditional Palestinian embroidery known as tatreez, stitched by hand, is traditionally used to decorate Palestinian clothing. It tells the stories of lost towns and villages, old customs, past lives and resistance.

Product:

The embroidered area measures 25cm x 25 cm and 36cm x 25cm and can be framed as a wall artwork.

Traditional Palestinian embroidery is now on the UNESCO cultural heritage list, and there is an effort to spark interest in this craft among younger generations.

Artisans: The Arab Women's Union of Bethlehem was founded in 1947 as a first aid center for refugees.

The Union's embroidery project aims to preserve and revive the heritage of Bethlehem and meet the economic needs of women in the area. When it was created in 1972, the women began by collecting old dresses and studying the local embroidery tradition. Today, more than 150 women from the villages and refugee camps of the area work on embroidery at the Union, including university students who pay for their studies with their earnings.

According to Helen Elousi, who runs the embroidery project, Christian and Muslim women of Bethlehem have historically shared the common heritage of embroidery. Women identified themselves by their village of origin rather than their religion, wearing a dress embroidered with the patterns and colors unique to each village. The Union is proud to preserve the heritage of Bethlehem in its meticulously embroidered cushion covers, bags and pouches.

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