Thread Memory: Embroidery from Palestine was developed in close partnership with our colleagues at the Palestinian Museum in the West Bank, Art Jameel in Saudi Arabia and V&A South Kensington.

The exhibition draws on diverse historical sources and the expertise of our partners. All interpretation text about the history of Palestine is based on information researched and written by the United Nations.

For information on the history and significance of tatreez, these books may be informative:

• Rachel Dedman, At the Seams: A Political History of Palestinian Embroidery, 2016

• Wafa Ghnaim, Thobna: Reclaiming Palestinian Dresses in the Diaspora, 2023

• Widad Kawar, Threads of Identity, 2011

• Hanan Munayyer, Traditional Palestinian Costume: Origins and Evolution, 2020

• Margarita Skinner, Palestinian Embroidery Motifs: A Treasury of Stitches 1850-1950, 2007

• Shelagh Weir, Palestinian Costume, 2004 (1989)

For more on the politics of Palestinian dress, and the intersection of resistance and cultural heritage:

• Rachel Dedman, Stitching the Intifada: Embroidery and Resistance in Palestine, 2023

• Simona Sharoni, Gender and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: The Politics of Women’s Resistance, Syracuse University Press, 1995

• Tina Sherwell, 'Embroidering the Motherland: The Fabric of Palestinian National Identity', Reinventing Textiles, vol. 2, Winchester, 2001, pp. 117-130

For information on the history of Palestine in the twentieth and twenty first centuries:

For a timeline and animated video on the history of the “Question” of Palestine: History of the Question of Palestine - Question of Palestine, United Nations

Information on the British Mandate for Palestine following the end of WWI:

History of the Question of Palestine - Question of Palestine, United Nations

Why did Britain promise Palestine to Arabs and Zionists? | Imperial War Museums, Imperial War Museums

About the Balfour Declaration: https://britainpalestineproject.org/, British Palestine Project (formerly the Balfour Project) and the history of Britain in Palestine 1917-1948

For information on the Nakba of 1948: About the Nakba - Question of Palestine, United Nations

For information on the Naksa of 1967 and the Six Day War, History of the Question of Palestine - Question of Palestine, United Nations

For information on the First Intifada, 1987-1993: The First Intifada | UNRWA, United Nations

For more information on the section entitled Cultural Heritage in Gaza, please see:

Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip, International Court of Justice

Data on casualties | United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - Occupied Palestinian Territory, United Nations

Documenting the Targeting and Destruction of the Health Sector in the Gaza Strip, Institute for Palestine Studies

30 January 2024
Statement condemning violence against people and their cultural heritage, International Council of Museums

31 October 2024
'It Is Important to Call a Genocide a Genocide,’ Consider Suspending Israel’s Credential as UN Member State, Experts Tell Palestinian Rights Committee | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases, United Nations

14 January 2025
True death toll from conflict in Gaza is 41% higher than reported, study estimates, The British Medical Journal

7 May 2025
End unfolding genocide or watch it end life in Gaza: UN experts say States face defining choice | OHCHR, United Nations

22 August 2025
Famine confirmed for first time in Gaza, World Health Organization

16 September 2025
Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip, UN Commission finds | OHCHR, United Nations

20 October 2025
Report: "Gaza Genocide: a collective crime" by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 (A/80/492) Advance unedited version - Question of Palestine, United Nations

23 October 2025
Fragile Gaza ceasefire marks ‘a momentous but precarious juncture,’ UN envoy tells Security Council | UN News, United Nations