Palestinian Craft Takes Centre Stage In A Powerful New V&A Dundee Exhibition

It is also, of course, an opportunity to draw attention to what is happening in Palestine, to preserve cultural heritage that is under threat, and to humanise a population that has so often been reduced to headlines and statistics. Since she first began working with tatreez, Dedman “felt strongly that this was not about presenting a tradition in amber. This is a vital, living craft that – like all fashion – is always changing, and evolving with the women who wear and make it.”

“In today’s world, everyone knows the word genocide,” Dedman continues. It’s why, as a means of informing people about Palestine’s history but also its present, Thread Memory couldn’t be more important, she says. “I want people to come away from this knowing the name of a Palestinian woman, or having looked at a dress from Khan Younis 100 years ago, and recognised how beautiful it is. There is so much of Palestinian joy and creativity and resilience and brilliance to be celebrated in this show,” she says, a chance “to know and recognise the art, amidst all the horror”.

Dresses from the village of Safriyya have a square neckline and vibrant pink embroidery on white cotton, as seen on this dress, from between 1920 and 1940.

Victoria & Albert Museum, London

During the First Intifada [1987 to 1993], Palestinian colours were banned in public. In response, women started stitching “Intifada dresses”, which combined traditional Palestinian motifs in national colours with new designs associated with nationhood and resistance.

Grant Anderson

Thread Memory: Embroidery from Palestine is free and on show at V&A Dundee until spring 2026