“Needle and thread” groups exhibition to revive Syrian heritage

Needle and thread group is currently holding a collective exhibition at the Arab Cultural center in Damascus.

The exhibition displays recycled exhibits for fourteen women including curtains, table covers, pillow faces, and paintings from used fabrics in a beautiful and useful way.

Participant Malaka al- Masri said to Syria Times: “The exhibition shows artistic works.”

“I present  a table cloth which took two weeks of working using old fabrics and all the participants joined in making this artistic work  ”.

Malaka sees that the exhibition reflects the collective work  and a good opportunity to make people familiar with this art”.

Reham Dalatieh, said “I display tablecloths, pillows, wall paintings, and other small pieces. I have worked with the group since 2016 because I like the collective work, and I learned how to recycle old fabrics and how to make use of used clothes to make bed sheets  and other things”.

“I participate in this event  to display my products and learn from the experiences of others” she said.

Zubaida Qidmani is another participant in “Needle and thread group” since 2014. Zubaida believes that recycling clothes  is useful for women who are  breadwinners and  who want to support themselves and their families.

“The exhibition is a great opportunity to showcase our products and works to people,” Zubaida said.

Jackline Farah, the organizer of the exhibition told Syria Times that “The aim of this event is to encourage women to make useful things for their homes and fill their free time”.

“Our aim is to revive the heritage of our grandmothers and mothers and display beautiful products, to re-

use damaged material,” she said.

“In this exhibition  which is entitled “Hakaya” we focus on the frescoes that depict the Damascene heritage. For example, we have  Umayyad Square and the Damascene sword” Farah added.

“All our work is from used fabrics and I made a painting about Juan Miro. Any woman can use a needle and thread to do beautiful things.

We are also interested in preserving the environment. Our goal is for people to see our work and to benefit from old things” Farah said.

Sulafa Baghjati , an engineer and a member in the group “Needle and thread” said to Syria time,” we in this group train women on the craft of recycling heritage fabrics, so we hold continuous courses for women to train them   and at the end of the course, we give them the trainee a certificate.

“In this exhibition, we made a group painting for all the trainees, and we completed a large tablecloth, which is a group of small paintings that we call “stories” to display in this exhibition” Sulafa said .

Reported by : Nada Haj Khidr