Al-Bireh, Palestine — 1 September 2026 — Taawon (Welfare Association), Inash Al-Usra Association, and the Palestinian Museum have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on a new art project entitled “When the Canvas Weaves into the Thobe.” The partnership brings together three institutions that have each sustained ongoing efforts to preserve Palestinian cultural life, now join forces on a shared project where embroidery meets painting.
The collection features six embroidered thobes inspired by the paintings of renowned artist Suleiman Mansour, creating a dynamic dialogue between two distinct Palestinian artistic traditions: fine art and traditional embroidery. Selected details from Mansour’s decades-long portfolio depicting the Palestinian landscape and its people are translated into thread and fabric — a medium long used by Palestinian women across generations to record place, belonging, and identity.
Rather than simply reproducing the paintings, the craft reinterprets Mansour's work. Through this exchange, embroidery becomes a medium through which his art finds new expression, creating a bridge between past and present and affirming the continuity of Palestinian culture within contemporary practice.
Under the agreement, the three institutions will work together to develop, exhibit, and promote the collection through partnerships with international museums and cultural institutions, host exhibitions, and organize tours both within Palestine and abroad.
For Taawon, this partnership extends a commitment that runs through all of its work: that Palestinian identity, heritage, and cultural memory are not simply to be archived, but are living practices carried forward by each generation. The collaboration sits within Taawon’s wider mission — investing in people, sustaining communities, and responding to humanitarian need — where cultural continuity is a vital part of community resilience.
