Journey through Palestine
Our bridge, our anchor: Handmade traditions in Palestine
Resilience through heritage and craft in Palestine
Threads of Survival
Since the events of October 7th, 2023, life in Palestine has become even more precarious. With escalating conflict, economic collapse, and widespread displacement, traditional livelihoods have all but disappeared for many. Amid this rupture, craft remains a vital form of resistance and survival — a way to preserve cultural identity, foster community, and generate income in a time of acute scarcity.
For women, in particular, handicraft has become not just a cultural inheritance but a lifeline, often providing the only means to support their families in the face of systemic unemployment and instability.
A Meeting of Hands and Hearts
In September 2024, Artijaan journeyed to Palestine to begin a new chapter. Partnering with Handmade Palestine, a local platform that collaborates with 36 artisan cooperatives, we sought to understand the needs and hopes of craftspeople on the ground.
From intimate embroidery workshops to communal weaving studios, we witnessed first-hand the resilience, skill, and ancestral knowledge being kept alive through the hands of Palestinian women. This collaboration marks the beginning of a growing relationship — one rooted in solidarity, mutual learning, and a shared vision for sustainable cultural regeneration.
Areas of operation
Ramallah
A city of art, activism, and intellectual ferment, Ramallah, meaning the hill of God, is the cultural centre of Palestine today. Although not its oldest city, as a result of displacement, the city has now become a melting pot for Palestine’s diverse cultural traditions. Known for its vibrant contemporary art scene and historic crafts, the city is home to embroidery collectives, glassmakers, leather workers and ceramicists who carry forward centuries-old techniques. Craft here is often imbued with symbolic motifs that speak to longing, memory, and the enduring dream of return to lost territories.
Bethlehem
Bethlehem – sacred city of birth and rebirth – has been a hub of Palestinian craftsmanship for thousands of years. Its olive wood carvings, mother-of-pearl inlays, and traditional tatreez embroidery are world-renowned. In the narrow alleys of the old city, artisans still pass down these skills in family-run workshops, where craft is both a devotional act and a means of survival under occupation.
