Detail of dress from Ramallah, early 20th century. © The Whitworth, The University of Manchester. Photo: Ruth Wedgbury

Material Power – Palestinian Embroidery Exhibition at the Whitworth

This article was first published by the University of Manchester.

Material Power charts the evolution of embroidery in Palestine over the past century: from rich village tradition, transformed by modernity, to its politicisation in the 1970s and commodification in the present. Over the last 75 years, embroidery has become a powerful symbol of resistance, and the embodiment of resilience on personal and national scales.

On display in the UK for the first time in over 30 years, historical dresses sit alongside the voices of women who continue to embroider today, and the work of contemporary artists critically reinterpreting the practice. Material Power seeks to unfold an intimate, human history of Palestine through clothing.