Tatreez

The term “Palestine” became firmly established in Roman usage after the Bar Kokhba Revolt, when the emperor Hadrian reorganised the province of Judea and renamed it Syria Palaestina (c. 135 CE). From that point on, the name referred to a region of the southern Levant, used over the centuries in different contexts but maintaining a recognisable geographical continuity between the Mediterranean, the Jordan River, and inland areas. Within this same space, tatreez, the traditional Palestinian embroidery, developed. Between the Ottoman period and the early 20th century, it became a visual language of the territory: patterns, colours, and techniques varied from village to village, turning garments into a form of “textile geography” that indicated origin and belonging. --- With the British Mandate of Palestine, the name also acquired an official political-administrative definition, while embroidery remained a deeply rooted everyday practice in rural life. After the 1948 war and the creation of the State of Israel, the historical territory of Palestine was fragmented. From 1967, with the Six-Day War, Israel took control of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, territories internationally referred to as the Palestinian territories. The majority of the international community considers these territories to be occupied, while their legal and political status remains highly disputed. In this context, the Palestinian population experiences different conditions depending on the area: in the West Bank there are restrictions on mobility, settlements, and a complex administrative system; in Gaza, since 2007, the blockade and recurring conflicts have had a severe impact on living conditions. At the same time, Palestinians claim political rights and the right to self-determination, recognised in various international resolutions but not yet fully realised. --- Today, tatreez is recognised as a symbol of cultural resistance and, in 2021, it was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. In both the diaspora and the Palestinian territories, it has become a form of cultural memory and continuity of identity. --- Created for the project “return()” and the exhibition “Still Here.”