Embroidered jellayeh coat from Galilee, from the collection of Birzeit University Museum. Photo: Kayané Antreassian. For the Palestinian Museum. 
Labour of Love: New Approaches to Palestinian Embroidery
March 18, 2018 – December 31, 2018 


In a moment of heightened global conversation around women’s rights and dominion over their bodies, Labour of Love explores Palestinian embroidery through the lenses of gender, labour, symbol, capital and class. Structured around these thematic poles, the exhibition traces Palestinian embroidery’s shift from an historic, individual practice, associated with self-expression, to a cultural artefact and marker of national heritage. The exhibition examines the politicisation of Palestinian embroidery, its circulation as image in paintings and posters, the implications of its commodification, and the nature of its production by NGOs today. Read more

Curated by Rachel Dedman, an independent curator and writer based in Beirut, Lebanon.