The Bride’s Carpet
2017

This art piece tells the fictional story of a mother who gifted her daughter a hand embroidered carpet for her wedding.

The daughter, fearing Israeli forces would break into her house and steal this precious gift, buried the gift in her garden.

Seventy years later, walking through the garden, artists nisreen and nermeen, see traces of the something hidden beneath and after digging up the garden, they uncover the carpet.

While the story is fictional, in reality and in the thousands, Palestinians hid their valuables in their gardens as they escaped the Israeli forces storming through towns and villages massacring the people and looting their homes. They hid their valuables thinking this nightmare would be over soon and they would be able to return home and recover their land and their possessions hidden beneath.

The Bride’s Carpet, made up of hundreds of pieces, is engraved in Basalt stone, some as small as 1cm by 1cm. The engravings have stitch patterns from all over Palestine and are buried under brass shavings.

Material: Basalt stone with brass.

Dimensions: W: 210cm, X L:380cm

Year: 2017

Patterns used:

Palm from Asdood area
Palm and Amulets from Hebron area
Dove from Hebron
Moon from Hebron area.