Palestine on the Pier: UK’s first heritage ‘Thobe’ show

Palestinian embroidery — or ‘tatreez’ — is an artistic tradition passed down through generations that involves hand-stitching patterns and motifs with brightly coloured thread onto thobes and other accessories. The designs symbolise status as well as life events and are often unique to a particular village so that ‘every stitch tells a story’. Tatreez was recently added to the UNESCO list of protected cultural heritage.

PALESTINE ON THE PIER, the free cultural festival, returns to Hastings Pier on 4 September with another UK first — a fashion show of embroidered dresses from all over Palestine.

It is the first time this heritage collection of ‘thobes’ — some over 150 years old — has been displayed in this country and will form a spectacular catwalk centrepiece of the celebrations.

‘These dresses have never been seen before in this country and we’re so excited to be sharing them for the first time on Hastings’ very own pier,’ said Katy Colley, one of the festival organisers.

The first Palestine on the Pier took place last year with music, food, dance, storytelling and craft, attracting a crowd of over 1,000.

This year hosts Hastings Pier Entertainment and Hastings & Rye PSC are taking over the whole pier with a full programme of entertainment and activities for all.

One notable performer will be acclaimed Palestinian viola player and composer Samer Rashed, flying in from occupied East Jerusalem to showcase his latest album ‘Tales of the Gypsy Jazz’ with his band.

The all-female dance troupe Hawiyya will take to the stage to perform their arresting combination of traditional ‘dabke’ folk dance combined contemporary storytelling, and will showcase a unique, one-off performance in collaboration with DJ Saliah, a British Lebanese electronic music producer.

DJ Saliah, fresh from playing Glastonbury, will also be DJ’ing on the pier at the end of the event with mix of dabke rhythms and classic Arabic dance music from the nineties and noughties.

Throughout the day audiences will be treated to classic Arabic folk music on the oud and percussion from Brighton-based musicians Jamal and Alaa, and Hastings’ own Frank Moon will perform on the Oud with his band The Owlers.

The Children’s Corner on the top deck will feature performances from interactive Palestinian storyteller Elias Matar and kite-making workshops, run with community-based creatives Arts on Prescription.

Guests can sample Palestinian cuisine at the food and drink stalls along the lower deck: falafel wraps from Arwa, chicken shawarma and kofte from Khalid’s Kitchen, Chef Momo’s delicious mabrousheh and Knafeh desserts and L2K’s thirst-quenching Palestinian Limonana.

There will also be a marketplace crammed with beautiful handicraft, stunning jewellery, authentic Palestinian keffiyehs, hand-painted ceramics, tatreez embroidered bags, wallets and purses, art, books and t-shirts.

Visitors are also invited to step inside the new ‘Talking Tent’ to hear from Palestinians living in the UK about their lives and experiences.

Since texture and design form a strong feature of this year’s show, three ‘tatreez’ embroidery workshops are being held over the course of the weekend at The Nest with Palestinian artist Miranda Allan.

Palestinian embroidery — or ‘tatreez’ — is an artistic tradition passed down through generations that involves hand-stitching patterns and motifs with brightly coloured thread onto thobes and other accessories. The designs symbolise status as well as life events and are often unique to a particular village so that ‘every stitch tells a story’. Tatreez was recently added to the UNESCO list of protected cultural heritage.

Artist Miranda says: ‘Palestinian embroidery is an art. When a Palestinian woman embroiders on her dress and decorates the furniture of her home it is with the story of her life and the history of her homeland — Palestine.’

The tatreez thobe catwalk show, flown in from Ramallah in the West Bank, will be a centrepiece of this year’s festival, and as well as the live show, the dresses will be on display on Saturday 3 September at The White Rock Hotel between 10am-5pm.

Meanwhile, Palestinian visual artist Areej Kaoud will be exhibiting a selection of her works at the Big Yin art gallery in St Leonards throughout the weekend.

Katy Colley said: ‘We had such amazing feedback from last year that we decided to expand and we are grateful to our partner organisations who have shown great enthusiasm in bringing Palestinian culture to a range of different locations throughout the weekend. We have something for everyone.

‘There’s music — modern and classical — creative workshops, an art exhibition, a dress display, dance, kids’ activities, food and drink and lots more. It is wonderful to be able to share the richness of Palestinian culture in all its many forms and the best part is that it’s free entry so there is no strain on the budget for families at the end of the summer holidays.’

For a full list of activities and performers on the pier, and to book a place on one of three tatreez workshops at The Nest (this workshop has a small fee, numbers are limited, booking essential), visit: www.hastingspalestinecampaign.org