FOREWORD REVIEWS

BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD

Traditional Palestinian Costume:

Origins and Evolution

By Hanan Karaman Munayyer

Hanan, Guest Speaker at WESPAC Foundation in New York

By Nada Khader

The WESPAC Foundation was delighted to welcome Hanan and Farah Munayyer to the annual Margaret Eberle Fair Trade Festival in White Plains, New York this year on Saturday, December 1 where Mrs. Munayyer gave a very informative and stimulating presentation on traditional Palestinian Costume. Mrs. Munayyer’s presentation was an opportunity for the holiday shoppers to learn about the historical, cultural and sociological context of this particular art form.

Using an array of carefully chosen slides, Mrs. Munayyer traced the origin of the motifs found on Palestinian costume and jewelry by examining ancient engravings, carvings and other artifacts dating as far back as several centuries BC.  Mrs. Munayyer talked about the influence of Arab textile arts and costume on medieval European costume and embroidery, using Western sources.  Her very carefully documented work gave us insight into ancient patterns and the history of costumes and craft in the Middle East over the last millennia.  Several workshop participants were inspired to purchase her most recent book Traditional Palestinian Costume: Origins and Evolution which offers the reader access to superb photographs of rare traditional Palestinian embroideries from all regions of Palestine alongside a narrative that includes Mrs. Munayyer’s research over the last twenty-five years on the origins of textile arts in the Arab world.

Mrs. Munayyer’s workshop attracted a diverse array of holiday shoppers including African Americans and Asian Americans who were curious to learn more about the hand embroidery.  Women’s hand work has a universal appeal that is able to connect people together across ethnic, religious and national boundaries and is an important part of building bridges of understanding and appreciation across both generations and cultures.  Participants were so impressed with the presentation that invitations were made to bring Mrs. Munayyer back to Westchester County in early 2013.  We are also very grateful for all the help and support provided by Farah Munayyer to make these presentations possible.  The WESPAC community wishes Hanan and Farah much success in their continued mission to preserve and exhibit Palestinian costumes, jewelry and other artifacts.  We deeply appreciate this very important work.  All our good wishes for 2013.

WESPAC, a multi-issue peace and justice educational center serving the NY metro region since 1974, had available for sale Palestinian hand embroidery from the UNWRA Sulafa Women’s Cooperative in Gaza.

photograph courtesy of Andrew Courtney

The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, March 2013

Hanan Karaman Munayyer on the Living, Universal Language of Textile

By Jane Adas

Hanan and Farah Munayyer founded the Palestinian Heritage Foundation more than 20 years ago as a modest effort to counter the pervasively negative image of Palestinian culture, and even its denial. Today it has grown to a collection of more than 3000 embroidered pieces; turned the Munayyers, who are both scientists, into leading experts on Middle Eastern textiles; and culminated in Hanan’s magnificent book, “Traditional Palestinian Costume: Origins and Evolution” (available from the AET Book Club and reviewed by Clovis Maksoud in this magazine’s October 2012 issue), which won the ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year for 2011. The Munayyers have displayed and spoken about their collection at the United Nations, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, the Los Angeles Arts and Crafts Museum, and more recently at the Library of Congress, The Graduate center of the City University of New York, and the Margaret Eberle Fair Trade Festival in White Plains, New York.

The Munayyer discovered that the style of dress in the Middle East, especially in Palestine, is ancient. They have found examples of traditional patterns on statues and jewelry dating back to 1200 BC. Elements of Middle eastern motifs found their way to Medieval Europe. Hanan described how during the Crusades, European armies copied blazons and emblems on Arab headdresses. While these have disappeared from the Arab world, they are preserved in European heraldic symbols. She showed a slide of a 15th century Italian nativity scene with pseudo-Arabic letters in gold, presumably meant to depict the Holy Land.

The Munayyers have expanded their efforts in two ways. They have broadened their research to other countries with the aim of documenting the textiles of the entire Middle East. And they have helped embroidery workshops all over in Lebanon and Palestine where refugee women are recreating old masterpieces, which are then sold through a network of volunteers. Truly, as Hanan said, textiles are a living, universal language.

Dr. Hanan Ashrawi’s Endoresment Letter to Hanan’s Book

تعليق الدكتورة حنان عشراوي على كتاب الأثواب التقليدية الفلسطينية: نشأة وتطوٌر 

إلى العزيزين حنان وفرح،

أشكركما جزيل الشكر على هذا الكتاب القيم والتي يعد بمثابة إنجاز ثقافي وطني وحضاري كبير للشعب الفلسطيني، وتأكيدا على الهوية والتراث الفلسطيني الأصيل.

وإنني افتخر بهذا الإنجاز الرائع الذي يجسد رسالة وطنية وإنسانية وتاريخية داعمة للقضية الفلسطينية، ومعبرة عن أصالة شعبنا الفلسطيني وتراثه وهويته وجذوره للعالم أجمع.

كما أود أن أعبر لكما عن اعتزازي بالصداقة التي تجمعنا، وأتمنى لكما تحقيق المزيد من النجاحات والإنجازات التي تبرز الوجه الحضاري لشعبنا.

 
مع أجمل تحياتي

حنان عشراوي

Qattan Foundation Gifts Hanan’s Book to Honorary Guests

After seeing the book “Traditional Palestinian Costume: Origins and Evolution” on display following the Ramallah Book Fair last October, Mr. Ziad Khalaf, Executive Director of the Ramallah based cultural and educational AM Qattan Foundation was very impressed by this publication and had ordered ten copies of the book to be gifted to honorary guests of the Qattan Foundation. In his congratulation message Mr. Khalaf wrote “Brilliant effort …. Great book”

Palestinian Heritage Foundation on Al Mayadeen TV

On Tuesday, January 15, 2013 the Palestinian Heritage Foundation was featured on Al Mayadeen TV. The interview was conducted two days earlier by the New York based Al Mayadeen correspondent Mr. Nizar Abboud. This two and a half minute report was broadcasted worldwide as part of the program “nafitha ala Falasteen” or “window on Palestine. To follow the interview please click the link below .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltHMokn7H5I&feature=youtu.be

Hanan, Guest Speaker at Bir Zeit University coming April

Author Hanan Munayyer will be the guest speaker at Bir Zeit University this coming April. Using an array of carefully chosen power point slides, Mrs. Munayyer will trace the origin of the motifs found on Palestinian costume by examining ancient engravings, carvings and other artifacts dating as far back as several centuries BC. 

Mrs. Munayyer will also discuss the influence of Arab textile arts and costume on medieval European costume and embroidery, using Western sources.  Her very carefully documented work will give insight into ancient patterns and the history of costumes and craft in the Middle East over the last millennia.

Her book Traditional Palestinian Costume: Origins and Evolution which offers the reader access to superb photographs of rare traditional Palestinian embroideries from all regions of Palestine alongside a narrative that includes Mrs. Munayyer’s research over the last twenty-five years on the origins of textile arts in the Arab world.

PHF Special Mail……..

Dear Juman,

Please convey my heartiest and sincerest congratulations to your sister, Hanan Karaman Munayyer, on her superb achievement in winning the Book of the Year Award. You must all be very proud of her.

As a Palestinian, I am particularly proud of her for having utterly torpedoed many Israeli myths that try so hard, with the help of Biblical fairy stories, to rewrite history by murdering our national narrative. Women like your sister keep our hope alive, even in these arid and difficult days when we are poised, once again, on the verge of national annihilation – partly through our enemies and partly through our own unparalleled incompetence!

With research like Hanan’s our national art, culture and literature will live on ready to take their place within our renaissant nation.

Absolutely wonderful achievement. Best wishes,

Dr. Faysal Mikdadi, UK

 Traditional Palestinian Costume: Origins and Evolution

The book reflects the historical and cultural richness of Palestine and the Arab world through costumes and embroidery. It presents the most exhaustive and up-to date study of the origins of Palestinian embroidery and costume — from antiquity through medieval Arab textile arts to the present. Also, it documents the evolution of costume and the textile arts in Palestine in the nineteenth and early twentieth century region by region.

We invite you to acquire it for your personal library and to gift it to family, friends, libraries and educational institutions.

Hardcover – 10″ x 14″ – 560 pages – Over 700 photos – Clam-Shell box
List price – $200
Price through Foundation – $165

Copies autographed by the author are available only through the Foundation.
Payable by check to “PHF” at the address below:
Palestinian Heritage Foundation
P.O. Box 531, West Caldwell, NJ 07007-0531

For shipping and handling within the continental United States, please add $10 per book. For more information, contact farah@palestineheritage.org  

 Book Reviews and Lectures:

Hussein Ibish’s review in NOW Lebanon. August 2011
http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=299083

                                                                                                                                                                                                                  This Week in Palestine, Book of the Month.
http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=3489&ed=197&edid=197
                                                                     

The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
http://www.wrmea.com/digital-issue/10872-books-traditional-palestinian-costume-origins-and-evolution.html

Dr. Clovis Maksoud review in The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.
http://www.wrmea.org/wrmea-archives/519-washington-report-archives-2011-2015/october-2012/11453-books.html

The LINK
http://www.ameu.org/Related-Articles/test.aspx

Library of Congress
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBz0TaLr8nY

The Jerusalem Fund
http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/ht/display/ContentDetails/i/32204/pid/223  

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