Customer Reviews

Palestinian Costume

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Jehan Rajab's 'Palestinian Costume' is one of a tiny handful of books on this subject, and it has become a classic. It is based on the collection of Palestinian costume held at the beautiful Tareq Rajab Museum in Kuwait - and the fact that that collection still exists after the Gulf War is a miracle in itself. (for those interested in that particular story I direct you to Jehan's book "Invasion Kuwait"). Indeed this book was to have been the first of three, the others discussing Syrian and Jordanian costume, but all Jehan's notes and research were destroyed during the war. This makes this book even more precious.

In format, it covers the costumes regionally, concluding with a chapter on jewelery and traditional embroidery motifs. Many original photos have been used, as well as careful studio shots of the garments. The text is informative and interesting. The book is a must, not only for those of us working in this field, but for anyone who cares about the survival of cultural traditions.

(For those who would like to see more of the Rajab collection I recommend the Palestine Costume Archive's exhibition catalogue 'Portraits without names: Palestinian costume'. For this exhibition, which has been touring Asia and Australia since 1995, the Tareq Rajab Museum kindly lent some 50 costumes and textiles, many of which are illustrated in the catalogue).