“Raqsh” Exhibition – Shatha Safi’s First Solo Exhibition

Curated by Nadeem Mazen at the Yabous Cultural Center, the exhibition was held at the Mahmoud Darwish Lounge, Yabous Cultural Centre, 10 Zahra Street, Jerusalem, as part of the Jerusalem Festival for Popular Arts 2022.

As the first event of the Festival at Yabous, the exhibition reflects on Palestinian identity and heritage, presenting sculptural works of traditional Palestinian dresses/THOB created from clay by artist Shatha Safi. This embodied artistic experience draws on the natural elements of earth, represented by clay, and fire, represented by the sun of Palestine. Through this process, Raqsh seeks to revive the memory and image of the traditional Palestinian Thob in its original form, reimagined as a contemporary artwork to be displayed on walls and cherished in every Palestinian home, thus safeguarding our collective memory and protecting our heritage from distortion and erasure.

Exhibition Statement (by the artist and curator):

“Raqsh is a heritage/culture inspired, embodied art exhibition, born from a creative interplay of elements, earth, represented by clay, and fire, represented by the sun of Palestine.

Clay embodies my land, my home, my displaced village, and the olive tree under which my grandmother once sat, weaving and embroidering her thobe with the farmer’s stitch. The sun symbolizes our freedom, our strength, our hope, and our dream of return.

I merged these elements to create clay pieces adorned with motifs that echo Palestinian embroidery, enriched with acrylic colors inspired by the beauty and elegance of the traditional thobe, reflecting the artistry of our ancestors in weaving, design, and color harmony.

From the very beginning, I named this piece “Daughter of the Sun/Bnt AlShams” It is crafted from clay, dried under the sun of Palestine, a name that mirrors who we are as Palestinian women: farmers, workers, revolutionaries, connected to the sun, working under its rays, resembling its glow, drawing joy, life, and even a touch of tan from its warmth.

From Daughter of the Sun/Bnt AlShams came the idea, and here stands Raqsh in Jerusalem, the capital and center of freedom, hope, sun, art, and all that is beautiful and revolutionary. This exhibition seeks to revive the memory and image of the Palestinian thobe in its old form, reimagined as a contemporary artwork, while also introducing audiences to the cultural meanings behind Palestinian attire, its colors, and its motifs.”