Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Palestina Jaber. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Palestina, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

Historically, Palestinian embroidery is passed down from one generation to the other while having tea time. A group of family women usually grandmother, mother, and daughters gather every day or week and start producing hand embroidered pieces while chatting and drinking tea. Each piece has a theme or story to tell: a rural landscape a woman fell in love with, a social event she attended, or a marital status she wanted to declare like getting married or becoming a widow. Now a days, learning the craft is a little bit easier with online workshops and social media connections. Little differences can be observed: we still form collectives but we also work independently; sometimes while drinking a cup of tea; other times while drinking a cup of coffee. The outcome though is still the same: a unique handmade and hand embroidered piece that is made with love.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

As a Palestinian American, who has lived in Ohio for about ten years now, I found it so difficult to express my cultural backgrounds through what I wear. I could not find something that would represent me especially when invited to a Palestinian wedding or cultural event. The closest I would find was boho style with embroidery but none of those styles had any meanings or techniques behind them. They lacked authenticity. For people like me who think a lot about representing their culture, I have found my culture to be very missing and underrepresented, and so the idea to start an embroidery house came across. I thought about establishing an embroidery house that produces the original form of Palestinian hand-embroidered and cross-stitched products; what we call the art of Tatreez, and introduce it to the American market in a modern way. I wanted those products to be made by local Palestinian women artisans who are financially struggling to support their families. The fact that, two years ago, I had to leave my job as a branch banker due to medical complications after a high risk pregnancy gave me the chance to think more about starting the business as I became a stay-at-home mom with lots of spare time. I spent the two years between looking for reliable artisans back home and learning the deeper meanings of each Tatreez design as well as how to create a theme or story that I want to convey through my pieces the same way our grandmothers used to do. Because Tatreez is not just cross stitching. It is a legacy that we pass down through generations to express Palestinian life from landscapes to culture to traditions to folklore and myths. As a payback to my mother community, 15% of profit for every product is directly donated to Palestinian students in Palestinian universities to help payoff their education debts. This year, with abundance of knowledge and available artisans, I was ready to officially start my embroidery house, Turath, which means Heritage in English.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My mission, through Turath, is to serve, preserve, and repurpose the Palestinian art of embroidery, Tatreez. I aim at introducing it to the American market, as this market in particular is very versatile and inclusive. With such introduction, Turath does not only sustain an ancient form of art but also support Palestinian artisans who are financially challenged so they keep producing their art and keep supporting their families at the same time. Believing in the importance of giving back to community, Turath also donates 15% of profit to support Palestinian students in paying off their debts in Palestinian universities. Such an attempt is to help students achieve an easier career journey without the financial burdens college debts can cause.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Society can do a lot to support artisans and artists like me. Supporting us can be as easy as liking our posts and sharing our reels. It can be through reaching out to us, we local small businesses, to purchase gifts for holidays and special occasions instead of purchasing them from corporates. It can be through showing up and visiting our stalls when we participate in pop up markets even if no purchases were made. Society can also help not burden artists by expensive participation fees. It can work on providing more affordable options so we can participate and promote our businesses.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TurathUSA
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/turath_usa?utm_medium=copy_link
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100075767996744&mibextid=LQQJ4d

Image Credits
Significant Moments Photography Le Photogenique Ohio Studio