Preserving Palestinian heritage: creating a textile conservation studio in the Occupied West Bank. A Palestinian Museum X Victoria and Albert Museum collboration
Resource type
Book chapter
Creator (person)
Date published
2025
Abstract
In 2021, Palestinian embroidery entered the UNESCO “List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity,” and the Palestinian Museum (PM) acquired almost 100 traditional embroidered thobes. With International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage Foundation funding, the PM and Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) began a 2-year collaboration, establishing the first textile conservation studio in the Occupied West Bank.
Much Palestinian cultural heritage has been destroyed, damaged, or displaced. PM and V&A staff combined expertise to develop a holistic textile conservation approach, fostering reciprocal learning to safeguard cultural heritage both within Palestine and that which has been dispersed through acts of conservation, documentation, and education.
The conservation studio was adapted for work on textiles, and a one-month training programme at the V&A followed. Three PM staff travelled to London, bringing three thobes for conservation treatment. Teaching covered surface cleaning, humidification, dyeing, stitched repairs, and costume mounting. One year later, a reciprocal visit allowed further onsite training.
After two years the entire collection was condition assessed, over 100 objects fully conserved, and a digital catalogue was made accessible online. Through honouring this heritage and celebrating its resilience, attention can be drawn to the urgency of its preservation.
Book title
Mending Threads, Filling Gaps: Conservation Narratives of Loss and Renewal. Papers from the 15th North American Textile Conservation Conference, Banff, Alberta, September 15th - 19th 2025,
Pagination
442-463
Publisher
North American Textile Conservation Conference
Official URL
Keywords