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"Threads of Tradition":
An Exhibition of Palestinian Folk Dress at Antiochian
Village
By Denise O'Neal
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
September/October 2005
One of th e most beautiful elements of the
Palestinian culture and heritage can be discovered at a new temporary
exhibition, "Threads of Tradition" at the Antiochian Heritage Museum at
Antiochian Village near Ligonier, PA. The exhibition showcases regional
ethnic folk costumes that represent the textiles and embroidery of eight
regions of historic Palestine, from the Naqab Desert in the south and
the Dead Sea in the east to Galilee in northern Palestine. On display
are hand-loomed, hand-embroidered ceremonial dresses actually worn by
Middle Eastern brides at their weddings, then
throughout their married
lives for ceremonial occasions.
Bride from Bani Naim, El Khalil region
"The exhibition illustrates more than exquisite threads of silk, silver
and gold. The intricate designs reflect the bride's identity through
regional symbolism in design, stitches and color," explained the
exhibition's guest curator Hanan K araman Munayyer. "As people would
gather in marketplaces or for local festivals, their regional dress
would show pride for their region and loyalty to their region, also
referred to as their clan," Munayyer is
president and co-founder of the
Palestinian Heritage Foundation (PHF) and since 1987 has personally
developed the extensive 1,500-piece costume and textiles collection, the
largest in the United States.
Springtime, Antiochian
Heritage Museum
The costumes and accessories displayed span
approximately four decades, reflecting dress from the 1860's to 1940's.
The
origin of styles and form,
however, dates back to antiquity and
Canaanite times of 1500 to 1200 BC. From then until 1940, all
dresses were cut from natural fabrics on a similar
A-line shape with
triangular sleeves, referred to by modern archeologists
as "Syrian Tunics." These "Tunics" were adorned with intricate cross
stitching in colorful silk threads, with heavy
embroidery on the chest, the sleeves, and the skirt's center front, back
and sides. They were accessorized with a girdle
(belt), which gathered the tunic to shape; a unique headdress (hat or
cap), which was decorated with a woman's personal
wealth in coins received from family, friends and her husband as wedding
gifts; and finally, an elaborately embroidered and
fringed veil (scarf or shawl).
Many of the geometric pattern designs are
dated from the fourth to second centuries BC. These patterns
symbolically represent
hope, pr osperity, good health and protection, regardless of faith as
Middle Eastern people lived in harmony within their
region in earlier times. Nature was a common design element, as shown in
stitches of the moon, cypress tree, the tree of
life, and the bird of paradise. The costumes on display also demonstrate
the use of natural dyes. In some examples, brilliant threads appear
luminous against indigo, black and natural linen backgrounds. Other
stitches embellish garments as an artistic compliment to luxurious
colorful silks and rich velvets. Age-old recipes for dyes used spices,
oak bark, cochineal insects, madder, indigo and other plants and fruits.
Dresses from Deir Tarif and Beit Daj.
These collected and preserved masterpieces
of Middle Eastern ethnic folk dress are a tribute to the countless
unknown women who labored with devotion to make them. Little did they
realize that each piece would become a script unto itself of ancient
symbols and regional heritage. Their toil and craft would eventually
introduce part of the rich Palestinian and Arab culture and history to
the Western world, beginning with early Roman times, through the
Crusades and Ottoman Rule, to the present day, and preserved for the
future in this extensive collection that was assembled for educating and
sharing.
The "Th reads of Tradition" exhibition is on
temporary loan from the combined collections of the Palestinian Heritage
Foundation and Hanan and Farah Munayyer, both Palestinian-born American
citizens. The exhibition is available for self-guided
viewing until November at the Antiochian Heritage Museum, located within
the Antiochian Village Conference and Retreat Center
in western Pennsylvania, just a three-hour drive from Washington, DC.
Viewing hours are Thursdays through Saturdays from
11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. The suggested donation is $2 per person, with
a free exhibition guide available to assist the
visitor. Exhibition tours are also available, with advance reservations,
for a donation of $3 per person.
Parents looking at their children through mashrabiyyeh
window.
For further information, including museum
tours, lodging, or group meeting reservations, call (724)238-3677,
e-mail
avsales@antiochianvillage.org.
To learn more about the Palestinian Heritage
Foundation, visit
www.palestineheritage.org
Craft Learned in Childhood
Imagine a six-years-old girl being taught the
craft of skilled embroidery. Her mother would buy more silk threads as
the
young child expanded her work on loomed linen or purchased silk. As a
result, her beginning threads were often different shade from her final ones. But an examination of the underside of the
stitches in the fabric would reveal that the girl had
learned strict rules and adopted a professional attitude, as evidenced
by her clean and precise stitching. It was part of the
culture and part of the preparation for the young lady, who eventually
would make her bridal dress and trousseau of three to
eight dresses.
If the seamstress worked alone, each dress could take as long as a year
to make and embellish with colorful regional
embroidery patterns. Many girls did labor for years, with help from
female relatives. Others with less time and talent
commissioned professional embroidery workshops where work was still done
by hand.
Typically, ceremonial wedding dresses were crafted as part of a daily
routine. Each afternoon upon completion of chores, a
teenage girl congregated with her mother and women from her immediate
family to embroider her bridal dress while chanting
special wedding songs together. It was a labor of love, as well as a
perpetuation of the clan identity via threads of
tradition.
-D.O. |
