“Memory of threads”: Young Palestinian designers find inspiration through memory, love, and Frankenstein
Jerusalem24 – A fashion exhibition carrying the wistful name of Memory of Threads opened on 7 June at the Goethe-Institute in Ramallah, showcasing the groundbreaking work of four young Palestinian artists.
In partnership with the Goethe-Institute and Birzeit University, Memory of Threads is an “extraordinary” exhibition full of creative and extraordinary ideas, based on highly specific individual (and daring) concepts.
Dana Idris, co-curator and participant in the exhibition, shares with Jerusalem 24 details about the exhibition (ongoing until 21 June), as well as her own motivations and secrets as an artist.
She hopes the eclectic juxtaposition of textures and materials will excite the imagination of the Palestinian public.
Exhibitions such as these “hold a fresh and new perspective of new designers and new artists,” she says. “They are all coming in with new visions, all in order to change the perspective of Palestine, view it in a different way.”
Dana also insists on the need to curate more such exhibitions as a way of supporting new artists and designers – especially new graduates.
“There aren’t many exhibitions for fashion designers, to support them,” she says. “It’s a new field in Palestine it is recently introduced.”
The lack of opportunities to showcase their work is compounded by other issues – which the four faced during this very exhibition. “We did face a problem which is the lack of resources when it comes to fashion, and the materials,” Dana explains. “The mannequins were a bit hard to find.”
But Dana firmly believes in new designers’ and artists’ ability to “change perspectives” with their new and distinctive visions.
Inspired by memory, love… and Frankenstein
Each artist worked according to a unique theme. Dana’s was ‘The Distortion of Memory and Love’. Guided by this concept, the young artist birthed four pieces, all created using distinct techniques and fabrics – as well as different sources of inspirations.
Dana used a patchwork technique (“the main inspiration was Frankenstein”) in constructing the main piece of her collection: the three-meter-long Jericho Thoub, which became the seminal piece in her current work.
The “very colorful” design “inspired me to make this entire collection,” she says, “and to make it mainly about my identity as a Palestinian.”
“Each patch represents the embroidery of a specific Palestinian city,” she explains. She also used orange to represent Jericho, chose yellow for Jerusalem, and purple for Hebron.
“Within these patches, a city is represented.”
Find out more about the ongoing exhibition and listen to the full interview on Vibes.
