Thursday 26 July 2012

National Treasure Corsage


These ravishingly beautiful indigo corsages
are hand-woven and dyed with natural plant indigo.
Crafted by South Korean National Treasure Artist, Ok-Ja Choi.

I wore my lovely rose corsage to the chalkface today. Hand-made, hand-woven silk and
hand-dyed by saffron stamens' pigment,
and a gift from Ok-Ja.
I met Ok-Ja a while back when she exhibited in Brisbane.
Can you believe a friend and chalkface colleague arranged her to gift the corsage to me!
I was astonished.
I was able to buy a little strip of her saffron dyed hand-woven silk.
It's waiting for a Flora-One-of-a-Kind.
To be honest, I am nervous.


I missed the House of Flora studio this week.
Instead of the week looking like this,
Or this.
It's been like this:
Chicken Soup.
Managing Man Flu # 101.
No time for the usual frippery.
It's rife.
Luckily, I have the chalkface workers to keep me buoyed.
The Palestinian embroidery's really taking shape.
The worker who's making it is really exploiting our theme:
Make Do and Mend, to its maximum.
She's unravelled a woollen jumper and re-purposed to produce a textile fabric based on the
geometry of Palestinian embroidery.
It's going to be a clutch purse!
Good work!
It's lovely.
I saw Palestinian embroidery at the Embroiderers' Guild.
Head Tutor Deborah Loves' work.
I enjoy the cultural significance for women.
Until recently, Palestinian embroidery was practiced by most women living in the countryside. After completing their house chores, country women gathered in groups, chattered news of the community and practiced the art of Palestinian embroidery, al-tatreez. Older women made cloth articles for their daughters or for their son’s dowry, and young women worked on articles for themselves and their families or for their future family homes. After the lives of the Palestinians were turned upside down as a result of their political misfortune, and after the exodus of most Palestinians from their homes, villages and cities, first in 1948 and second in 1967, the art of embroidery became a luxury which many Palestinian families could not afford. As the struggle of the Palestinians for their individual and collective survival intensified, the practice of Palestinian embroidery by individuals and families faded away more and more, almost to extinction. 

The Ladhah Foundation

Stay healthy, remember to eat a rainbow.

 



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