- Title: The Palestinian heritage stitch that is giving upcycling new meaning
- Date: 10th March 2021
- Summary: BURJ AL BARAJNEH CAMP, BEIRUT, LEBANON (MARCH 5, 2021) (REUTERS) ENTRANCE TO PALESTINIAN REFUGEE CAMP OF BURJ AL BARAJNEH WHERE FATIMA KHALIFA, A SYRIAN REFUGEE, HAS RESIDED AND ESTABLISHED A PALESTINIAN HERITAGE EMBROIDERY STUDIO CALLED "AL SAMA STUDIO" KHALIFA, 43, WALKING IN THE CAMP AND REPORTER ASKING: "Are you from the camp?" / KHALIFA SAYING: "No, I am from Syria, from the Golan (Heights)." SIGN READING (English): "AL SAMA STUDIO" WOMEN IN WORKSHOP STITCHING PALESTINIAN HERITAGE DESIGNS ONTO GARMENTS FOR UPCYCLING INITIATIVE CALLED "LVP x Alsama" CLOSE UP OF STITCH ON MESH LAYER KHALIFA WALKING INTO STUDIO WHILE SPEAKING VIA VIDEO CALL WITH COLLABORATOR LARISSA VON PLANTA, SAYING IN ARABIC: "Hi, how are you? I miss you."/ VON PLANTA SAYING: ''Let's see what we are working on." VON PLANTA ON SCREEN WHILE KHALIFA SAYS: ''This piece here." KHALIFA AND VON PLANTA DURING VIDEO CALL DEMONSTRATING DESIGNS AND KHALIFA SAYING IN ARABIC: "Incredible work, you cannot find better than this work. This is Lina. She is brilliant." / LINA SAYING HELLO (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) CO-COLLABORATOR IN UPCYCLING INITIATIVE, FATIMA KHALIFA, SAYING: "This embroidery is known as the Palestinian stitch X and which is very tiny as you see here, this is it." WOMAN EMBROIDERING AN UPCYCLED GARMENT (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) CO-COLLABORATOR IN UPCYCLING INITIATIVE, FATIMA KHALIFA, SAYING: "I knew this type of embroidery in Syria but I did not work on it. It was something that we learned in school in art class or in women's skills workshops but it was something ordinary, I never thought it was important and I never imagined that this will be the source of my livelihood and this would become my project." KHALIFA SHOWING A DENIM SHIRT SENT FROM A CUSTOMER IN ENGLISH NAMED ALICE AND EXPLAINING HOW THE DESIGN WAS MADE SAYING IN ARABIC: "This is for Alice and she decided where she wanted the stitching and she wanted the color red." (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) CO-COLLABORATOR IN UPCYCLING INITIATIVE FATIMA KHALIFA, SAYING: "The fastest thing that travels in the world, since I don't speak languages and the other person doesn't understand mine, is art and music. This is art and this will travel fast and my message is in this, and I am very confident that it will get there. Because it is a very clear message." MORE OF WOMEN WORKING IN THE STUDIO (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) CO-COLLABORATOR IN UPCYCLING INITIATIVE, FATIMA KHALIFA, SAYING: "This work is a release for us, it releases the tension that we are living through. We are far away from our homelands, we are far away from families, we have lost people in wars and we live in a camp where living is in itself is an achievement." VIEW OF THE CAMP AND ITS CROWDED BUILDINGS VIEW OF BALCONIES (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) CO-COLLABORATOR IN UPCYCLING INITIATIVE, FATIMA KHALIFA, SAYING: "I am Fatima Khalifa, from Syria, from the Golan. I came to Burj al Barajneh camp in 2013. I am a mother of three boys and a little girl. I have a private business in Palestinian embroidery and I have 35 women working with me. We are trying our best to remain free to continue this business and to continue as a business." BALCONIES IN THE CAMP (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) CO-COLLABORATOR IN UPCYCLING INITIATIVE FATIMA KHALIFA, SAYING: "The (Beirut) explosion made me feel unsafe. After seven years running away from war, I am still not safe."
- Embargoed: 24th March 2021 14:44
- Keywords: Designer Europe Fashion Lebanon Palestinian Heritage Refugee Syria
- Location: BURJ AL BARAJNEH CAMP, BEIRUT, LEBANON AND SUSCH, SWITZERLAND
- City: BURJ AL BARAJNEH CAMP, BEIRUT, LEBANON AND SUSCH, SWITZERLAND
- Country: Lebanon
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Fashion,Middle East
- Reuters ID: LVA001E3I3WB9
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITOR'S PLEASE NOTE: DURATION OF VIDEO IS 6:05 NOT 6:10 AS STATED IN SLATE
When she escaped war in Syria to Lebanon's Burj al Barajneh camp in 2013, Fatima Khalifa had nearly lost everything. More than seven years later, a simple embroidering technique handed down by generations of Palestinian artisans which she had learned in art class is helping her and more than 30 women weather the multiple hardships they face in Lebanon - one stitch at a time.
Her more recent collaboration is one that she hopes will open doors for her and the women, who are Syrian as well as Lebanese and Palestinian artisans, to expand and to survive.
It started seven months ago, shortly after the Beirut explosion, which collaborator Larissa Von Planta escaped only two days before. Von Planta had been living between Beirut and Europe while working on her own label which focuses on sustainability and artisanship.
Von Planta, 27, a graduate of womenswear from Central Saint Martins came up with the idea immediately after August 4 when people around the world were wondering how to offer help.
Through family and friends and increasingly through word of mouth and social media, Von Planta gathered and delivered by hand about 40 garments from around Europe to the workshop in Burj al-Barajneh where they were given a new lease on life with motifs inspired by the Palestinian heritage stitch.
A week ago, the workshop received another shipment of clothing from customers from the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Austria among others.
Khalifa and the women come up with the design using input from Von Planta who calls a few times a day to check on the progress. Sometimes the clients write down what colors they prefer or where to place the design but other than that it is free creative reign.
The project has yet to provide a reliable and sustainable income to the women. Khalifa says her aim is to reach an income of at least 100 U.S. dollars per woman per month, but they are not there yet.
So far since August 2020, the project which involved 150 upcycled items, has generated a 5,505 U.S. dollar for the women, Von Planta said.
With the coronavirus pandemic severely hampering global transport and Lebanon's own financial and economic crises, the project is still in its early stages with the aim of ensuring three annual shipments per year to generate a regular income.
But still, Khalifa says the work gives her the best feeling in the world: the freedom to design.
Depending on the pace of each artisan and the size of the design, each garment can take between a week to ten day's work to complete.
It is then sent to the dry cleaners and mailed back to their respective owners: an upcycled piece of clothing with a new story to tell.
(Production: Ayat Basma, Issam Abdallah and Imad Creidi) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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