Widad Kawar ( ar, وداد قعوار ), was born in

Tulkarm Tulkarm, Tulkarem or Tull Keram ( ar, طولكرم, ''Ṭūlkarm'') is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located in the Tulkarm Governorate of the State of Palestine. The Israeli city of Netanya is to the west, and the Palestinian cities of N ...

city in

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

, is an internationally renowned collector of

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

ian and

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

ethnic and cultural arts. She has amassed an extensive collection of dresses, costumes, textiles, and jewelry over the past 50 years, seeking to preserve a culture that has been largely dispersed by conflict. Kawar is known as ''Umm l'ibas al-falastini''—the mother of Palestinian dress.

Biography

Kawar was born in

city to a christian family in The

city. Her father Jalil was an accomplished teacher and head of juvenile school system in British Mandate government of Palestine. She studied at the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, aut ...

. Kawar has made her collection available for public viewing and has mounted exhibits of Palestinian dress around the world. She has written many books on Palestinian

embroidery Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen on c ...

and is seeking to establish a Gallery of Cultural Embroidery. Recently, she collaborated with Margaret Skinner on ''A Treasury of Stitches: Palestinian Embroidery Motifs, 1850–1950'' (Rimal/Melisende). Widad is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the American Center for Oriental Research. She has recently established th
Tiraz Centre
which runs small museum in

Amman Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 a ...

, housing her collection and dedicated to the preservation of Jordanian and

cultural traditions.

Published work

*Kawar, Widad: ''Threads of Identity: Preserving Palestinian Costume and Heritage'' Rimal Publications. 2011 *Kawar, Widad: ''Pracht Und Geheimnis - Kleidung Und Schmuck Aus Palästina Und Jordanien'' Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum Munich. 1987 *Kawar, Widad and Tania Nasir: ''Palestinian Embroidery : Traditional "Fallahi" Cross-Stitch'' . Munich, State Museum of Ethnography. 1992. *Widad Kawar and Shelagh Weir: ''Costumes and Wedding Customs in Bayt Dajan''.

References

External links

Official website
*https://web.archive.org/web/20061010090126/http://www.arabheritage.org/ Official website * Living people American University of Beirut alumni Collectors Palestinian clothing Palestinian women People from Tulkarm 1931 births Palestinian non-fiction writers {{Palestine-writer-stub

Biography

Published work

See also

References

External links