Author: Reem Farah, Editor: Nicola Gray
Heritage is to Art as the Medium is to the Message: The Responsibility to Palestinian Tatreez
Published in Jan 2021 (Third Text Journal, Online), English.
Palestinian embroidery, Tatreez, is an indigenous collective art form and political symbol of steadfastness. When the artist Jordan Nassar utilized tatreez as a medium to express his own personal identity, the appropriation of tatreez into the white cube space raised a host of questions about the uses of heritage in art. As such, the article discusses issues of political normalisation and cultural appropriation in the Palestinian struggle against Israeli imperialism. Centering Palestinian refugees not only as principal laborers of the craft, but as its preservationists, this article highlights the power disparities between labourer and artist in the commodification of tatreez. It asserts that Palestinian tatreez artists, social enterprisers, and consumers, especially those in the diaspora must stay accountable to the political history and economy of heritage while leveraging their own approximation to capital to serve principled solidarity with Palestinian demands for freedom, justice, and equality.
Contents
Introduction
An Artist’s Identity
Normalisation
‘Diaspora Tatreez’
The Ethics of Embroidery Labour
The Audience’s Responsibility
Heritage is to Art as the Medium is to the Message: The Responsibility to Palestinian Tatreez
Published in Jan 2021 (Third Text Journal, Online), English.
Palestinian embroidery, Tatreez, is an indigenous collective art form and political symbol of steadfastness. When the artist Jordan Nassar utilized tatreez as a medium to express his own personal identity, the appropriation of tatreez into the white cube space raised a host of questions about the uses of heritage in art. As such, the article discusses issues of political normalisation and cultural appropriation in the Palestinian struggle against Israeli imperialism. Centering Palestinian refugees not only as principal laborers of the craft, but as its preservationists, this article highlights the power disparities between labourer and artist in the commodification of tatreez. It asserts that Palestinian tatreez artists, social enterprisers, and consumers, especially those in the diaspora must stay accountable to the political history and economy of heritage while leveraging their own approximation to capital to serve principled solidarity with Palestinian demands for freedom, justice, and equality.
Contents
Introduction
An Artist’s Identity
Normalisation
‘Diaspora Tatreez’
The Ethics of Embroidery Labour
The Audience’s Responsibility