tatreez — noun
A Palestinian hand-embroidery tradition of cross-stitched geometric and floral motifs, using vibrant threads to form repeating patterns that convey regional origin, family identity, and social memory. Practiced across generations on garments, household textiles, and decorative pieces, its specific stitches, color palettes, and placements (notably on the thobe) carry narrative and symbolic meaning.
Etymology: from Arabic تطريز (taṭrīz), “embroidery.”
In Liane Al Ghusain’s practice: tatreez is a living visual language—adapted in textile installations, painted surfaces, and mixed-media works—to explore identity, memory, and the continuity of craft within contemporary art.
Part of a series of embroideries and experimental video works I made during the covid pandemic, I printed a poem I wrote on muslin and illuminated it with embroidery. Although I have not exhibited this work, I submitted it in my application to the New York University MFA program in Abu Dhabi.
