A Place to Retreat
@ND1B__
2025
Sun printed photography and embroidery
35mm photo sun printed and hand-embroidered using tatreez stitching method*. This is a photo I took at Promontory Point last summer. Coasts are often seen as a place to relax or retreat. In Palestine, families are violently displaced by the IOF. Some seek refuge near the sea and build temporary homes in tents along the coast.
*The tatreez motif featured in this piece is called "Al Khiyam" ("tents" in Arabic) and originates from Deir al Balah. Courtesy of Tirzain archives.
*This piece was featured in the art exhibition, Here the Birds’ Journey Begins, on April 26th, 2025, and was sold for $500 that were sent to families in Gaza.
“The beach is a place of leisure and retreat. There are stark similarities between the coast of Gaza and the lakefront in Chicago. Imagine if your favorite place to escape to is now where you have been forcibly expelled.”
@ND1B__ is a first generation Palestinian, born and raised on the southwest side of Chicago. For more than half her life her passion has been photography, but has recently fallen in love with tatreez (centuries old Palestinian embroidery).