Sharjah exhibition highlights Palestinian resistance through tatreez heritage
Sila: All That is Left to You showcases embroidery as art, memory, and survival amid erasure
SHARJAH, UAE (MNTV) — A new exhibition at the Maraya Art Centre is spotlighting Palestinian history, resilience, and identity through the traditional craft of tatreez, presenting it not only as a form of cultural expression but also as a powerful language of survival in the face of erasure.
Titled Sila: All That is Left to You, the exhibition brings together historic and contemporary works of embroidery, curated by Maraya’s Cima Azzam and 1971 Design Space’s Noor Suhail, running until January 5.
The showcase draws attention to how tatreez embodies Palestinian memory and resistance, especially as war and destruction threaten cultural heritage.
Central to the exhibition is the story of a century-old thawb gifted to Gazan artist Hazem Harb in September 2023, shortly before the escalation of conflict.
The garment, stitched from fragments of embroidery collected across Gaza, Nablus, and Ramallah, was originally crafted out of poverty but became a symbol of unity and endurance.
Harb’s series Stitching Unity—inspired by the thawb—is among the key works displayed, reflecting his call to preserve heritage deliberately targeted for destruction.
“Heritage in Gaza is being erased—mosques, churches, libraries deliberately destroyed,” Harb said. “Art today is not about romance but about duty, to preserve even when the physical material is gone.”
The exhibition presents a range of works that reinterpret tatreez in bold, contemporary forms. These include The Sound of Thread by Naima Al Majdobah, a video installation translating embroidery motifs into musical sequences; The Mantle of Justice by Omarivs, which stitches skulls into silk fabric as a symbolic response to Gaza’s devastation; and Nakhla by Nada Debs, weaving tatreez into rattan furniture design.
Other notable contributions include Joanna Barakat’s Like, which juxtaposes embroidered cloth with digital commentary on Gaza, and Cristiana de Marchi’s series of white canvases embroidered with graveyard motifs, underscoring vulnerability and disruption.
Samar Hijazi’s Transgressed Boundaries and Areen Hassan’s Weaving the Land Back convey fragility yet monumentality, while Lebanese-based Inaash Association—supporting thousands of Palestinian refugee women since 1969—collaborates on several featured works.
The curators structured the display to mirror the organic flow of tatreez, avoiding rigid divisions by medium. Even the grey-painted walls allude to the rubble and rebuilding of Palestinian life, creating a setting that acknowledges both destruction and hope.
Palestinian women remain central throughout the exhibition, underscoring their role as the backbone of embroidery traditions.
Works by Inaash artisans include collaborations with artists such as Samia Halaby and Nour Hage, the latter’s Study of a Cypress Tree dedicated to Gaza’s children and closing the exhibition with a message of resilience and remembrance.
“The exhibition is not just about preserving craft, but preserving lives,” Suhail said. “Tatreez is both visual language and testimony.”
By combining archival garments, experimental art, and collaborative embroidery, Sila: All That is Left to You frames tatreez as a living form of resistance that speaks across generations.
As curator Azzam noted: “Things are being erased in real time in Gaza. We are racing against time to hold on to these histories and culture.”
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