Promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation as part of the programme entitled “Italy, Cultures, and the Mediterranean”, a unique cultural project has reached Israel and Palestine involving women of different ethnic groups and religions. The women taking part are Palestinian, Israeli, Bedouin and Druse, and they have begun to embroider a tapestry known as “The Thread of the Alliance”. It is a creation by Italian artist Daniela Papadia, which is meant to draw the map of the Mediterranean with a gold thread against a background mapping human genome. To kick off the initiative, the artist travelled to Israel and Palestine to meet and motivate the women who decided to participate in the project.
Director Francesco Miccichè has filmed a documentary during the artist’s long journey, which started January last. The film is produced by Istituto Luce, and tells a story of courage.
The initiative focuses on most important themes, such as conflicts in the Middle East and racism. The goal of the documentary is to prove that through the human genome, every individual is both unique and similar, and that genetically speaking, there is no race, but one great human family.
The 5.60mt x 2.40 mt tapestry is a unique artefact. It is being embroidered on linen by six groups of women who live in Palestine and in Israel. Once their work is complete, they will meet in Jerusalem. The art of embroidering has a special meaning for Daniela Papadia, who chose it because it symbolises the art of “repairing”, a metaphor between art and science meant to mend the damages caused by conflicts, which unfortunately are still ongoing.
The culmination of the project will take place on 21 June, when all the weavers will meet in one place to sew together the different parts of the tapestry that make up the Mediterranean.
