Paper short abstract:

Traditional Palestinian embroidery (taṭrīz), has evolved post-Nakba and flourished after the Intifada. Today digital platforms globally connects Palestinians, sharing and exchanging embroidery practices. The paper explores taṭrīz's evolution through digital ethnography.

Paper long abstract:

As a form of embroidery typical to the Palestinian villages, taṭrīz was originally an ornament that revealed regional identities through specific patterns and colors; yet its use and characteristics have greatly changed after the Nakba and the first Intifada. After the former, women no longer had time/finances to embroider, as the distinction between festive and everyday clothes disappeared while adjusting to a displaced, refugee condition (Allenby 2002). On the other hand, the first Intifada brought out the rebirth of symbols conveying attachment to the land in a national sense, and taṭrīz flourished again, intertwining traditional patterns with modern contents and colors reminding the Palestinian flag and the map of Palestine with Arabic toponyms (Salamon 2016).

Taṭrīz evolved from a signifier of regional belonging to a national one, allowing the spread and expression of identity consciousness within Palestinian territories and diasporas, linking the creation of embroidery to the resistance and survival of memory (Farah 2013; Saca and Saca 2006). Nowadays, digital platforms facilitate the connection between Palestinians with different diasporic backgrounds (Aouragh 2011), promoting the learning and sharing of embroidered works across different countries (e.g. the project “Taṭrīz and Tea”). The paper aims at discussing this evolution of taṭrīz by highlighting its role in different contexts of Palestinian diaspora, with a focus on a digital ethnography (Pink et al 2016) addressing the practice of taṭrīz in social media and as a medium for social networks.