- ARAB NEWS
- 03 May 2024
Since 1975
DUBAI: The Palestinian Embroidery Obi Project is collaborating with the Palestinian Embassy in Japan to host an embroidery workshop and small bazaar on Jan. 20, which will feature products from Palestine.
The event, ‘Stitch for Palestine,’ is a fundraiser that will help the people of Gaza, who are currently suffering from constant Israeli bombardment.
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Maki Yamamoto, the founder of the Palestinian Embroidery Obi Project, spoke to Arab News Japan about the birth of the cultural and traditional endeavor.
Yamamoto comes from a pharmacological and medical background and did not have much information on Palestinian culture. However, as she was working as a researcher for a Japanese cosmetics company, she also did some volunteer work.
Her volunteering activities included assisting events at several embassies around Japan, namely the Embassy of Palestine. Through her work with the embassy and her longtime friendship with the Palestinian Ambassador Waleed Siam, Yamamoto was struck with the idea of combining traditional Japanese attire with the popular Palestinian embroidery, known as ‘tatreez.’
“When I first visited Palestine in 2013, I saw the Palestinian people’s suffering, but I also saw their daily life, it was a happy life with beautiful culture,” she explained. “I wanted to introduce Palestine in a positive light, because Japanese people think of Palestine as a very poor country.”
Yamamoto told Arab News Japan that the Japanese kimono always had different motifs as mergence of the Asian culture, so an obi with tatreez on it seemed only natural.
The founder said she works with Palestinian women in refugee camps across the West Bank and Gaza, who help embroider the Japanese clothing.
“I tell the embroiders how I want the pattern to be applied to the obis, and I ask them what color and design they think is good, and then bring them back to Japan,” she added.
While Yamamoto has learned how to embroider the traditional Palestinian patterns, her main priority to generate income for the hardworking Palestinian women, who are ready to help grow the project.
Speaking on the differences in work culture between Japanese and Palestinian people, Yamamoto explained that she was astonished at how the Palestinian women designed obis.
“In Japan, we are meticulous when it comes to measurements, while Palestinian women will roughly measure everything with their hands, they are true artisans,” she said.
When it comes to shipping the final products from Palestine to Japan, the founder of the Palestinian Embroidery Obi Project relies on international NGOs for help.
Yamamoto said she wants to share the culture, the dignity, the long history of the Palestinian people and make something that will merge the Japanese and Palestinian culture together to create new value.
