Journey of Motifs, The

Ever since I finished my last book on Palestinian Embroidery Motifs I am more than ever curious and wonder when those brilliant embroidered dresses first emerged. From where did the motifs come, where is their origin? What love and imagination must have been transformed into such extraordinary embroidered dresses. Margarita Skinner lived in the Middle East for over twenty years and during that time volunteered in several Palestinian women's projects in Jordan, Gaza Strip, West Bank and for over five years she supervised embroidery production by over 300 ladies in a self-supporting programme in the Gaza Strip. Her 1998 book Between Despair and Hope: Windows on my Middle East Journey 1967-1992 gives some details of this endeavour. Margarita met Widad Kawar when they both worked in the refugee camps of Jordan after the 1967 war. She is the author of critically acclaimed Palestinian Embroidery Motifs 1850-1950: A Treasury of Stitches, the first book to document all the different motifs by origin and names used on the old dresses.