Explore the history and cultural significance of Palestinian Tatreez in this interview with artist and author Joanna Barakat, focusing on the evolution of embroidery from a village craft to a global symbol of national identity. Learn about the impact of the Nakba on traditional thob construction, the role of 20th-century artists in preserving indigenous heritage, and the modern transition of Palestinian embroidery into contemporary art and fashion.
What made Tatreez — Palestinian embroidery — the symbol of Palestinian identity? Not ceramics, not glass blowing, not straw weaving. Why the stitch?
Today, we sit down with Palestinian artist and author Joanna Barakat, who has spent years chasing this question. She unravels the deep-seated significance of Tatreez (Palestinian embroidery). Once hand-stitched by women in rural villages to signal their status and environment, Tatreez underwent a radical transformation following the 1948 Nakba.
The result is Narrative Threads (2025), an anthology featuring 24 living Palestinian artists who use tatreez in their work — from Sliman Mansour and Nabil Anani to artists working inside Gaza right now, embroidering evacuation maps in real time.
Joanna shares how Palestinian artists in the 1960s intentionally elevated these traditional motifs into a collective national symbol to spark a sense of "Palestinian-ness" and resist cultural erasure.
Whether you grew up with Tatreez in your home or are just beginning to explore the language of each motif, this conversation offers a powerful look at how a centuries-old craft continues to evolve as a living archive of Palestinian existence.
This episode is hosted and produced by Tala Elissa. Our executive producer is Zina Jardaneh. Our associate producer is Zeena Shehadeh. Social media by Leen Karadsheh. Research and copywriting by Dima Sharif. Branding by Sara Sukhun. Theme music includes excerpts from Clarissa Bitar, The Popular Art Centre - مركز الفن الشعبي & Rim Banna.
This conversation was recorded on February 2nd, 2026. You can watch it on YouTube, here.
Tarwida is a series of conversations that bring Palestinian arts, culture, and heritage to the forefront. We hear from artists, including writers, filmmakers, musicians, architects, culinary practitioners and more about their very own Palestine.
In a nutshell, if you want to know more about (Creative) Palestine, this is the place to be.
Follow us on socials @tarwidapodcast
--
Relevant links and Resources:
Relevant Tarwida Episodes:
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction — the artists who painted around the rules
1:45 Meet Joanna Barakat — Jerusalem, Los Angeles, Abu Dhabi
4:00 Tatreez as an indigenous language — writing an autobiography in thread
7:00 Why Joanna grew up without tatreez in the house
8:30 Tatreez motifs and emojis — a new way to see the stitch
9:50 Before the Nakba — village life, regional dress, and the thobe
13:00 Trade routes, Bethlehem's gold thread, and regional variation of Tatreez
16:00 Personal creativity within the tradition — how women made the thobe their own
19:00 1948 and the 1960s the rupture and the refugee camp dresses
21:30 How PLO-era artists made tatreez a national symbol
25:00 Machine embroidery — pros, cons, and how to tell the difference
30:30 Tatreez on denim — is modern fashion evolution or dilution?
32:45 Heartstrings — the painting Joanna stitched into her own skin
36:00 Reclaiming a motif — the book that never said "Palestine"
37:30 Tatreez Circle — how a community built itself one workshop at a time
40:00 Can you truly learn heritage through a screen?
44:00 COVID, October 2023, and the urgency of preservation
47:00 Narrative Threads — why this book needed to exist
49:30 How the 24 artists in Narrative Threads were chosen— and what connects them
53:30 Broken Weddings — the most powerful artwork in the book
57:00 Joanna's next body of work and future plans
58:30 How to find Tatreez Circle and join a workshop