It includes embroidered works, books and traditional food.. The Palestinian Heritage Exhibition in Kuwait tells the history of culture and its products

The exhibition of the Palestinian Heritage Center, which was held at the headquarters of the Kuwaiti Alumni Association in its 55th edition, presented some of the features of the heritage of Palestine by displaying various artworks, most notably the distinguished art of Palestinian embroidery, which was included in the list of Palestinian human heritage at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2021.

The exhibition, which concluded on Thursday in the Kuwaiti capital, included various types of ceramics, Palestinian food, textiles, books and literature that consolidate identity and tell the history of the diverse Palestinian culture.

The exhibition focused on preserving the Palestinian identity, especially after the Israeli attacks to obliterate the features of Palestinian history. It also emphasized the right of the Palestinians to cling to their land, history and heritage.

Faten Abu Ghazaleh, a volunteer at the Palestinian Heritage Center – a non-profit organization based in Jordan – said that the exhibition seeks to achieve several goals, the most important of which is preserving the Palestinian heritage and emphasizing the Palestinian narrative that we are the owners of the land and the right.

Empowering Palestinian women in the camps

Faten Abu Ghazaleh added that Palestinian women are famous for embroidery, as they are taught this profession so that it does not disappear and remain alive among successive generations, in addition to helping empower Palestinian women in the camps in Jordan to benefit financially from the proceeds of this craft.

She indicated – in her speech to Al Jazeera Net – that the exhibition, which was organized in cooperation with the Palestinian embassy in Kuwait, included a large portion of hand embroideries, including traditional dresses that refer to the Palestinian areas such as Ramallah, Bethlehem and others, in addition to embroideries for pillows, sheets, boxes and frames.

She added that the exhibition also included a section for ceramic pieces that were brought from the city of Hebron, which is famous for this type of art, and famous Palestinian foods such as olives, olive oil, thyme and sumac, in addition to a section for carefully selected books presented in both Arabic and English, which included books on embroidery, cooking and the history of Palestine. Stories, drawings for children and political books.

Abu-Ghazaleh explained that the reason for holding the exhibition in Kuwait is that all of the volunteers reside in Kuwait, explaining that Kuwait is one of the first countries in its support for the Palestinian cause, and it includes a large Palestinian community.

She stressed that the exhibition contributes to providing sums of money that help secure a decent living for Palestinian women in the camps, as its revenues are divided into 3 sections equally, the first for women who produce the exhibits, and the second to cover the cost of materials used in the handicrafts, and the last third is distributed to charitable projects within Palestine.

The heritage of Palestinian embroidery

Volunteer Mona Al-Zanoun has been participating in this exhibition for about 25 years, as she learned the arts, literature, and meanings of volunteer work and the meanings of the Palestinian heritage, and then moved from understanding heritage to the meanings of embroidery units in Palestine.

Al-Zanoun told Al Jazeera Net that the products available at the exhibition, which were made by Palestinian women in the camps of Jordan, opened a way to study the Palestinian heritage. Embroidery products reflect the nature of life in the environment from which they come, through the drawings on embroidered dresses, and foretell about the life of the civilizations that succeeded in Palestine, stressing that the demand was very great for acquiring the embroideries in the exhibition, which numbered more than 150 embroidered pieces, to Porcelain and ceramic parts.

For her part, volunteer Ghufran Al-Sharabi, one of the food department supervisors at the exhibition, explained that the basic food items that participated in the exhibition were brought from Palestine, such as olives, olive oil and Nabulsi soap, in addition to displaying some Palestinian home foods by some volunteers.

Al-Sharabi – in her speech to Al-Jazeera Net – saw that the exhibition witnessed a great demand from visitors to buy Palestinian foods, and that some visitors came to participate in the exhibition to donate or buy some of these products, because they know that the purpose of the exhibition is noble and charitable.

It is noteworthy that the exhibition has been organized twice a year since 1990, and receives support from institutions of public benefit and community support, such as the Kuwaiti Alumni Association, the “Kuwaiti for Jerusalem” Association, the Women’s Cultural Association and the Palestinian Embassy in Kuwait, which provided the necessary facilities such as licenses and insurance for the exhibition venue.

The exhibition also coincided with the 105th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, and it is expected to be followed by another exhibition next February under the umbrella of the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters in Kuwait.