Barbie’s release in Arab countries has ignited a wide array of cultural conversations. Namely, Arab artists are leveraging the fashion doll’s popularity to communicate social statements: We’ve seen Hijarbie pay homage to distinguished hijabi women, and now, Palestinian Barbie is honouring her country’s traditional garments.
Via @hijarbie on Instagram
Who is Palestinian Barbie?
Palestinian Barbie’s creator is Wafa Ghnaim. The 40-year-old dress historian’s life is a series of full-circle moments, constantly bringing her back to her Palestinian roots. Serendipitously born on World Embroidery Day to an accomplished embroidery artist mother, Wafa was always fated to preserve traditional Palestinian clothing in her work.
Via @khalil.studios on Instagram
Wafa’s artistic roots are immortalized in VHS videos, where she can be seen embroidering traditional Palestinian thobes alongside her mother and sisters. She shared, “There is something identity affirming with watching Mama thread a needle while I was beside her pulling waste canvas at 10 years old in a scrunchied bun.”
Via @tatreezandtea on Instagram
That’s precisely what Barbie is: An identity-affirming vessel. With her unprecedented initiative, Wafa strives to make young Palestinians in the diaspora feel seen and affirmed.
A love letter to traditional tatreez (embroidery) and thobes (dresses), Palestinian Barbie serves to recognize and preserve the shared identity of young Palestinian girls. “Palestinian women are the backbone of the resistance,” writes the artist. “In every stitch, our rebellion is renewed.”
Many of Wafa’s Palestinian Barbies belonged to her and her sisters back in the 1980s. The Barbies don traditional Palestinian thobes which were masterfully embroidered by Wafa’s mother. “Mama’s tatreez and thobe details are impeccable,” she writes.
But Wafa’s vision is not exclusive to girls – she also seeks to affirm the Palestinian identity of young boys, curating Ken dolls with traditional keffiyeh scarves around their heads.
Via @tatreezandtea on Instagram
Beyond Barbie, Wafa Ghnaim’s overarching mission is to reclaim Palestinian heritage by preserving, documenting, and rescuing its art and culture.
She’s so much more than a Barbie fashion designer: Wafa is a researcher at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, a curator at The Museum of the Palestinian People in Washington, D.C, and an educator at The Tatreez Institute. She’s earned her stripes as a revolutionary artist, one embroidery initiative at a time.
We wish Wafa continued success in all of her artistic projects moving forward. Check out her recently released book THOBNA: Reclaiming Palestinian Dresses in the Diaspora.