Nardeen Srouji
Stitch Unstitch
In this video, I took one of the traditional Palestinian art forms that bears historical meanings and transformed it into a tool that interprets the present from a different angle. I used Palestinian red embroidery that traditionally exists in the form of patterns based on symbolism which could tell a lot of information about the person wearing it. In this piece, I abstracted these symbols to their building unit – the (X) – which I incorporated into lines that resemble writing or counting. The video shows both of my hands from opposite sides of the screen; one embroidering the red x (stitching) and the other doing the opposite act (unstitching). At some point in the video, the hands reverse or exchange roles, creating a perfect loop; as a result, the gap between them is never closed, and it becomes a moving element from left to right. This artwork is not meant to be watched from beginning to end; it is a meditative act based on a combination of movement and transformation, forcing the viewer to focus and understand both opposite operations at the same time. Stitch and Unstitch, 2022, is a piece that tries to challenge the comfortable stance of the observer and push the boundaries of the status quo in which it transpires.
Stitch Unstitch, 2022. 13 min
Nardeen Srouji is a Palestinian multidisciplinary artist born in Nazareth and based in Haifa, Israel/Palestine. Srouji graduated from Bezalel’s MFA Program of Fine Arts (2017) and holds a BA in English Literature and Fine Arts from Haifa University (2004), a diploma in Fashion Design from the NB Haifa School of Design (2012), and a diploma in art studies from the Oranim College, Tiv’on (2006).
Srouji has exhibited solo shows at the Sommer Gallery in Tel Aviv (2023), The Haifa Museum of Art (2022), and the Beit-Hagefen Art Gallery (2019). Her works have been displayed in various exhibitions and institutions, including the Al Qattan Foundations, Ramallah, Palestine (2022-2023); Ramat Gan Museum (2022); Tel Aviv Museum of Art (2021); The Museum of Islamic Art, Jerusalem (2020); The 7th Biennale for Drawing, Jerusalem (2019); MoBY, Bat-Yam Museum of Art (2018); Haifa City Museum (2018); The 5th Riwaq Biennale, Qalandiya International, Haifa – Ramallah, Palestine (2016), and The Qalandiya International Biennial, Ramallah, Palestine (2012).
In recent years, Srouji has been awarded several grants and prizes, such as Fountainhead Residency, Miami, Florida, US (2024); Artist in Residence Program – Research, Teaching and Creating – at the Technion Institute of Technology (2023), the Independent artist fund (2022-2023); Outset Contemporary Art Fund (2022); Artis Residency Program Grant (2022); Artport Yearly Residency Program, Tel Aviv (2021-2022); the Rappaport Collection Prize for Tel Aviv Museum (2021); An Artist Book Grant (2019) and Exhibition Grants (2019 & 2022) from the Pais Council for Culture and Art. Her works are included in several private collections and institutions, among which are the Al Qattan Foundation, Ramallah, Palestine (2023); Haifa Museum of Art (2018); the Rapaport collection in Tel Aviv Museum of Art (2021) And The Israel Museum, Jerusalem (2023).