Image above: Feryal Abbasi-Ghnaim, photo by Jen Dougherty
You are invited to join Weave A Real Peace for our upcoming panel discussion, Continuing Textile Traditions of the Arab World. Representing cultures spanning millennia and a significant part of the globe, our speakers will tell us of the richness of Arab culture as shown through its textiles. As the website of the Museum of the Palestinian People says, “Wherever there are borders, whether political, religious, or racial, we will invite our visitors to transcend them. We will collaborate to co-author a new story. For who we are lies beyond category.” Come and listen to these three remarkable women sharing remarkable stories.
Wafa Ghnaim is a Palestinian-American artist, researcher, writer, educator, and businesswoman who began learning Palestinian embroidery from her mother, award-winning artist Feryal Abbasi-Ghnaim, when she was two years old. This legacy has deeply influenced her career, becoming a leading educator in the field, the first-ever Palestinian embroidery instructor at the Smithsonian Museum, and collections specialist at the Museum of the Palestinian People in Washington, D.C. Wafa continues her mother’s educational legacy through Tatreez & Tea, a global arts education initiative that she established in 2016. Tatreez & Tea’s mission is to educate and empower exiled Palestinians of their heritage as well as to cultivate and strengthen allyship with non-Palestinians around the world.
Textile archaeologist, Dr. Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood is the director of the Textile Research Centre, in Leiden, the Netherlands. She is a specialist in Middle Eastern embroidery, textile and dress. She worked for many years as a textile archaeologist in Egypt, before turning to more recent aspects of Middle Eastern dress. She is the author of The Encyclopedia of Embroidery from the Arab World, and co-author of Covering the Moon – An introduction to Middle Eastern Face Veils and The Encyclopedia of Embroidery from Central Asia, the Iranian Plateau and the Indian Subcontinent.
Dr. Reem El Mutwalli, founder of The Zay Initiative, Lead Curator of the Women’s Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, is a published author, curator and public speaker. With over 30 years of experience, she is an expert consultant in Islamic art and architecture, interior design, historic dress and UAE heritage. She authored Sultani: Traditions Renewed Changes in women’s traditional dress in the United Arab Emirates during the reign of the late Shaykh Zâyid Bin Sultan Âl Nahyân, 1966-2004. The Zay Initiative is a non-profit, UK registered initiative advancing the preservation of cultural heritage through the collection, documentation and digital archiving of Arab historical attire and their stories. It is the first digital platform focused on regional Arab dress and adornment, with the goal to empower and sustain global cross-cultural dialogue to inspire creative minds.
The panel will be moderated by WARP member Judi Jetson, a weaver and a leader in the well-researched promotion of craft, particularly textiles. There will be ample opportunity for questions from those attending this free online event. Please register to join us on Saturday, April 16th, from 2:00-3:00 pm, US Eastern Time.
Speakers from left to right: Dr. Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, Dr. Reem El Mutwalli (photo by Issa Al Kindy), Wafa Ghnaim (photo by Nadia Gilbert)
