Please note that registration is now closed but there might be spaces available on the day.

The exhibition will open to the public on Friday 30 November at 2pm and close before the seminar at 4:30pm.

Panellists and talk titles:

The changing symbolism of traditional Palestinian embroidery​
Shelagh Weir (Former Curator, British Museum)
Abstract:  During the past two centuries the rural women of Palestine adorned their ceremonial garments with colourful silk embroidery in a variety of patterns.  This beautiful art symbolised women's regional identities and social status, and also reflected their times.This presentation gives a taste of this rich visual language at different periods.

Dr Shelagh Weir is a Former Curator for the Middle East, Museum of Mankind (British Museum).  Curator of three exhibitions on Palestinian costume and textiles, and author of several books on Palestinian costume and embroidery. 

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The story of the Palestinian History Tapestry
Jan. Lady Chalmers (Palestinian History Tapestry)
Abstract: Conceptualisation of the Palestinian History Tapestry was inspired by previous history tapestries, the experience of providing health care in Gaza, and the idea of using the embroidery skills of Palestinian women to tell their story and the story of their homeland.

Jan Chalmers worked as a maternal and child health nurse for UNRWA in Jabalia, Gaza Strip, in 1969 and 1970 and has returned there at intervals since then. In 2012 she founded the Palestinian History Tapestry Project.

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Reflections on the History Tapestry
Doaa Hammoudeh (St Antony’s College)
Abstract: This presentation focuses on women’s experiences in working on the Palestinian History Tapestry Project. Drawing on women’s narratives, it discusses the meanings ascribed to their work as well as the ways in which the Tapestry has contributed to the continuation and development of an embroidery tradition that preserves and provides an outlet for expressing their identity and history.

Doaa Hammoudeh is a DPhil candidate in Social Policy, based at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, she was a researcher at the Institute of Community and Public Health, Birzeit University, in the occupied Palestinian territory. Doaa is a committee member of the Palestinian History Tapestry Project.

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Why Palestinian History Matters: Some milestones in the Palestine History Tapestry​
Karl Sabbagh (Documentary maker and writer)
Abstract: I will use a dozen or so panels from the Palestinian History Tapestry to suggest that the Tapestry is a unique way to connect the personalities and talents of individual Palestinians with their own history.

Karl Sabbagh is a documentary maker, writer and publisher and he writes and speaks about Palestinian history.  His father was Palestinian.

Followed by discussion