Inaash is an organization that empowers women in Palestine by providing them with opportunities to turn their embroidery skills into a career. Many of the women who join Inaash already have experience in embroidery, having learned from their female family members. The art of tatreez, a style of embroidery that dates back over 3,000 years, holds historical significance in Palestinian culture. Each village in Palestine has its own unique tatreez pattern, with designs that tell stories about the local culture, including people, animals, plants, and beliefs.
Once hired by Inaash, the women receive formal training and are given opportunities for career development. Ali Jaafar, the general manager, explains that they start the women on basic patterns and assess their ability to progress. Samar, who joined Inaash over 20 years ago in an entry-level position, now leads the 400 embroiderers employed by the organization.
One of the recent projects the team worked on was for an exhibition at the Islamic Arts Museum of Malaysia. They were tasked with recreating 70 historical Palestinian dresses, each representing traditional designs from various cities and towns. Samar explains that the research process for this project was meticulous and took over three years to complete.
For the embroiderers, projects like these hold significant emotional weight. Samar, whose family is from Safed, a region in Palestine, was deeply touched by the motifs from her father’s hometown. Despite never being able to visit Safed due to Israel’s refusal to grant Palestinian refugees the right to return, Samar was able to learn more about the area through tatreez. She could envision the plants, animals, and traditions of Safed through her embroidery work.
Inaash provides women like Samar with a platform to not only showcase their embroidery skills but also to connect with their cultural heritage. The organization’s dedication to preserving Palestinian embroidery traditions and empowering women through vocational training is truly commendable. Through their work, the embroiderers at Inaash are not only creating beautiful pieces of art but also preserving a rich cultural heritage for future generations to appreciate.
