Tatreez Thobe

[0:03] In Arabic, the Palestinian dress is called thobe or thawb, depending on the area of Palestine. And that's how you describe a traditional Palestinian dress. [0:13] I always envy other people that say to me, "oh, this is my grandmother's dress", because obviously my grandmother's dresses, they've been passed to my aunties or my cousins. They're not going to come to me, yet. [0:25] Everyone, they have a dress or something from their family, and I don't have anything. I always actually felt like that. [0:32] So, I went back home for holidays, and then I was talking about, I want to make a dress for myself. [0:40] I was like, “well, I want to make dress, so when I get married, you know, I have a dress and I want to make it from scratch”. My mom was like, “I give you my dress”. And I was like, “No, no, no. I want to actually embroider a dress that has tatreez and blah, blah, blah, blah”. [0:53] And she said “No! I have a dress”. And I was like, “You have a dress?!”. [0:58] And she was like, "I have a dress"! And then she went, she brought it to me, and I was completely amazed for the whole day. I would keep looking at the dress, I keep fixing the back.... [1:05] I was just so...honestly, I was a mix of angry and so happy! And I was like, “What? How can you not actually, like, mention this to me before?”. She's like, “I don't know. I thought you were not interested”. And my dad in the background, he was like, "yeah, yeah, you keep it because your mom doesn't wear it"! [1:21] I think he was so proud that I was so excited about it. And I think probably it maybe remind him when he maybe made it for my mom for the first time. [1:32] He asked our neighbours back home in Palestine to make for her when they first went to Palestine after they got married. We have neighbours that they are refugees from 1948. So, all these women coming from villages that they were erased. Palestinian embroidery and the dresses, they start to change as a result. [1:54] Tatreez became a symbol of national unity. So, this dress is actually also the result of this change, because it's not really a traditional dress, but rather you find a dress that is done by seven different women that they embroider patterns from their areas of Palestine. [2:10] Poem ...Palestinian women amidst olive trees. So green... [2:17] There's just one pattern from my area, Nablus, which is in the West Bank where my Dad is from, but then the other patterns, they're really a combination from different areas. Many of the patterns, they are to do with flora and agriculture, because mainly tatreez was done in rural areas. So, they are the coffee beans, you know, they are flowers...so they probably made a design and then everyone choose a pattern or pick a pattern that they liked. [2:42] So I think it's a living history. [2:46] Poem ...Harvesting the fruits, their hands intertwined... [2:52] I knew about tatreez before, I think in my house, just everything was very Palestinian. I always been very aware, but when I moved to London, at the beginning everything was new so it was exciting. You know, and you are young...but at some point, I felt like I don't fit. [3:07] It was so strange for me. I just felt completely out of place at that time. [3:13] So I'm someone that really likes to do crafts, like just things with my hands. [3:18] So I decided to learn tatreez during COVID, and all of a sudden it just became something that has really much deeper meaning than what I thought it was. [3:28] It did really help me at that time and still help me till now to feel connected to my identity. It does really make me feel home. But, I guess that also to feel like I am doing something. You feel like, what can I do? [3:42] What can I do to help? When you feel so powerless, you're so insignificant in the comparison of politics and all of that, you think you have no influence. So, for me, I feel like this is my influence on the ground level. So, I think it's been like a coin with two faces - like one; it's just for my own selfishness, like identity crisis. [4:03] But also at the same time, I believe I'm contributing towards keeping Palestinian culture alive, somehow. [4:11] Poem ...I see Palestinian women adorned and so proud. Their embroidered dresses a vivid shroud... [4:22] These dresses that we have, they're not just dresses. Even young generation, we're still wearing it with like really, really proud. And it's because of the meaning it carries. [4:33] Look at it beyond the aesthetics, which is really beautiful, but actually the importance that it has. Not only for me as Dina, and you know, my dress from my mom, but this dress is a dress that represents many people's stories in Palestine. So, I feel responsible to preserve it.