THE EXHIBITION

THOUBS: Cross-points of Palestinian Identities is a multimedia travelling exhibition that recognises and exalts the art of embroidery and the creative virtuosity of Palestinian women.

Palestinian embroidery (tatreez) was added to the UNESCO cultural heritage list not just due to the beauty of this practice and the masterfully stitched threads of colours and patterns, but because of the significance of Palestinian embroidery in the stories and histories it carries.
The viewers will find themselves in front of a wide range of techniques used in dressmaking and embroidery of historic Palestine, such as tahriri (couching), tashreem (patchwork), and manajel (binding), and will appreciate the main regional styles with their materials and embellishment against the background of Palestinian life and culture.

The exhibition is composed of twelve structures (2×1.8 m) where thoubs coming from various regions of historic Palestine are printed on policarbonate sheets with internal LED lighting. These larger reproductions (scale one to one) will allow the viewer to see every detail and enjoy in full the craftmenship behind each piece. These images used to create the exhibition include original thoubs from the collections of Maha Abu Shusheh, George Al Ama, Maha Saqa and Bank of Palestine – many of which are more than 100-years old.

Each thoub is accompanied by another smaller panel with a brief description and a painting reproduction, created by the renowned Palestinian artist Sleiman Mansour, that represents the daily life of Palestinian women wearing their embroidered thoub/garment.

The Exhibition also includes:

Three original thobes and their complete accessories (head covers, belts, shawls) of different areas, are from the collection of the Tiraz Centre of Widad Ka’war in Jordan.

Other original accessories and jewerly are from the collection of Suraya Hoffmann, and are displayed in six showcases.

Two screens/monitors with images and videos before and after the Nakba showing Palestinian women in their original thoubs taking part in traditional celebrations and singing traditional songs, with original background music.

Projection of photos from a collaborative documentary project by Tabea Kerschbaumer that deals with the identity and culture of first and second-generation Palestinian women living in the diaspora.

A video produced by the french musician Alexis Paul who transforms the stitches of palestinian patterns into musical notes, and then played through an air organ that creates a musical background in the exhibition space.

Ten 60x60cm text panels that illustrate palestinian embroidery, its history, techniques, patterns, colors, fabrics and geographical areas.