With its faded fabric and darned-up holes, the first Palestinian dress on display at Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge might initially seem unremarkable. Unlike the opulent thobes elsewhere in the gallery, it’s a thoroughly worn garment created for everyday wear. But it’s also a fascinating window into the life of a rural woman from the Gaza region in the 1930s: the knee patches replace fabric worn away from field and domestic work, while the gaps by the chest panel show alterations made for breastfeeding. The embroidered patterns are likely samples from past dresses or hand-me-downs from relatives. As with all of the embroidered clothes and items currently on view, it’s an expression of class, gender and sociopolitical change.
“Embroidery is a practice that in itself feels so humble: the repetitive binding of thread to fabric,” says curator Rachel Dedman. “And yet, when you start to look at the garments, the people who make them, you start to understand the big picture events in history.”
