The culture of Palestine is rich in artistic expressions that are rooted in a civilisation that has endured for thousands of years. Palestine is the Key to the Arab Nation and visitors and merchants as well as foreign invaders throughout the centuries have brought their own traditions as well as taking native art and symbols back to their homelands. Some of the oldest cultures known to humanity either had their roots or had contact with the land of Canaan. Embroidery and jewelry are two of the rich and varied domestic arts that can be found in Palestine. Each district and village had its own specific traditions where embroidery is concerned. The Zionist slogan of a 'land without a people for a people without a land' can be disproved easily if one takes even a quick glance at the history of embroidery in Palestine. You will find embroidery motifs in Palestine that were taken as far afield as Scandinavia first by Celtic and then by Viking mercenaries as far back as the early centuries of the first millennium. Indeed, if one studies ancient Sumerian art at all, one can find the same symbols there. Sumer, Babylon, Canaan, Phoenicia, ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome are among the civilisations that all contributed to the symbols and motifs we find in modern and contemporary Palestinian art. In more modern history, the cultures of Persia, Turkey, Armenia and Europe all had an influence on Palestinian art. Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire until the 20th Century and the rich heritage of Turkish textiles and embroidery were interwoven into native Palestinian traditions. Islamic art and Christian art alike can be found not only in tapestries and rugs but in the thobs that Palestinian women still wear. One small example of this is the mihrab of the masjid that is echoed by the qabbeh of the traditional Palestinian thob. The two photographs displayed here show elements of different traditions. The two girls are from a Bedouin tribe and the girl with the elaborate headdress is from a village. Every piece of jewelry, every motif that is embroidered on shawl or thob, has ancient significance. Some motifs or colours originally were chosen for their 'good luck' power or power to avert evil. Others were colours that, when used in combination, denoted a specific tribe, family or village. Sometimes, however, symbols or colours were chosen simply because the individual creating the outfit LIKED them.