Over the past two weeks, I have put up my first exhibit at The Museum of the Palestinian People in Washington, DC. The exhibit will be available November 28, 2022 - March 25, 2023.
As their new Collections Specialist, I have had the pleasure of researching and documenting each object in their ownership. It has been the most delightful to handle the traditional Palestinian dresses — both historic and contemporary. For the first curatorial project of my career, I decided to focus on the dress styles that emerged after the 1948 al-Nakba. Many people believe there are no unique styles that developed during exile, however there are a few — three of which I feature in this exhibit. I hope you will have an opportunity to visit the museum over the next four months and share your thoughts. Don’t miss the special tribute to my mother, Feryal Abbasi-Ghnaim, who has been, and always will be, my lifelong mentor and teacher. For those interested in the captions of each object, I am sharing them here for your reading pleasure!
As we approach the holiday season, please consider supporting my research and preservation efforts through Tatreez & Tea. You can make a donation, register for a course (there are recorded courses, too!), or purchase fabrics from Syria. I keep fighting to keep this practice alive, and with your support, I can continue to offer these courses and provide my expertise to the community. Sending you my warmest wishes this holiday season.
Warmest wishes,
Wafa Ghnaim
Researcher & Educator, The Tatreez Institute
Collections Specialist, The Museum of the Palestinian People
Instructor, Smithsonian