Tatreez Stories: “Welcome Home, Gaza” Design
Tatreez tells stories. This blog post will be part of a series of blog posts where I tell the story behind each of my tatreez designs. Whether you are practicing tatreez or just an admirer (for now), the stories that tatreez tells are what make it so special. I hope you like my stories and I look forward to hearing yours through your tatreez.
Design Inspiration
For those that don’t know, I have extended family still in the West Bank.
One of my second cousins happened to be in Gaza and it took him about a month and a half to safely return home to his wife and kids in the West Bank.
Upon his return, he was filmed surprising his kids at school for the first time and this video was shared amongst relatives. In it you see his two beautiful children screaming out with joy and yelling the words, “!الحمد الله على السلامه”
These scenes brought me to tears out of joy for my second cousin and his loved ones, but also out of sadness for the many families who would not be able to welcome home their own loved ones.
Vibrant Colors
Around the same time, I also was inspired by a couple other pieces of content on the internet.
One in particular was a reel that was shared of a sunset as seen in Gaza showcasing three incredibly vibrant colors.
Tatreez Motifs
The other piece of content was a free resource provided by @folkglory.design on her website which features motifs from a thobe (Palestinian dress) from Gaza. In it is a beautiful cushion motif that drew my attention.
And so I put all these elements together to create this design with a story that is intended to manifest the safe return home for all Palestinians from Gaza.
To engage with this design further, you can:
Pre-order a print, 50% of its proceeds to be donated directly towards a fundraiser I’m organizing on behalf of my friend Noor and her family, half of whom are still in Gaza.
