Send us Fan Mail MEET LAILA, A PALESTINIAN INDUSTRIAL AND GRAPHIC DESIGNER WHOSE TATREEZ PRACTICE LIVES IN OLIVE WOOD AND METAL RATHER THAN THREAD (@lailagracedesign; @pettystinian; website). Her family roots run through the old city of Ramallah, Beirut, Jerusalem, and al-Hassan in Jordan, and as a second generation Palestinian American, her identity has grown with her over the years. Her path to tatreez started with an insult. Near the end of her undergraduate industrial design degree, a professor told her there was no need to study design from other parts of the world, because white people invented it. That comment, followed by her first trip to Palestine, sent her back for a master’s degree focused entirely on Palestinian craft, and on one question: how do Palestinians practice design? Laila walks us through her master’s thesis, a vanity built by turning the chest panel of a thobe upside down and so many intentional details. She explains why she calls herself a Palestinian futurist, why she is moving away from symbols like the wall and 1948, and how that sits alongside earlier political pieces like her undergraduate table divided by a wall and “Your Bombs, Our Leisure,” a working hookah shaped like a bomb. She digs into the tension between preserving tradition and giving ourselves permission to evolve it, because one day, what we make now will be tradition too. You’ll hear about: >> 0:54: Laila’s connection to Palestine >> 3:29: Her tatreez journey >> 7:00: The Vanity: A Thobe in Olive Wood >> 13:39: Defining “industrial design” >> 15:21: Identifying as a Palestinian futurist & why that matters >> 24:59: Discursive Work: Tea Time Under Apartheid and Your Bombs, Our Leisure >> 29:13: Functional design to challenge occupation >> 37:57: Laila’s cypress fan, embroidered dress, & star ottoman >> 46:47: What’s next in her tatreez journey >> 50:15: Major life lessons from tatreez Rate, Review, & Follow on Your Favorite Podcast Platform “I love Palestinian embroidery and Tatreez Talk.” – If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing our show! This helps us elevate the vibrant narratives of Palestinian embroiderers and support more tatreez-ers — just like you — in learning more about tatreez and connecting with each other. You can find us on Spotify, Apple Podcast, and others -- just scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let us know what you loved most about the episode! Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. We’re adding a bunch of bonus episodes to the feed and, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now! Boycott Resolute RGL. Click here for more information. Boycott ZARA and all Inditex brands—Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Pull & Bear, Stradivarius, Oysho, ZARA Home. Click here for more information. Follow us @tatreeztalk Follow Amanne @minamanne & Lina @linasthobe