Artist-in-residence as part of the Pro Helvetia exchange program, Rolf Graf presents his recent work in the workshop at Darat al Funun at 6:00 PM on Wednesday 28 November 2012. In this work he investigates the pictorial language of motifs within traditional Palestinian embroidery, and the general cultural history of the handkerchief.

The exhibition's title is composed of a sequence of three names of motifs, taken from the large Palestinian visual vocabulary of cross stitching patterns. Such rich collection of emblems and symbols really underpins a society’s cultural roots and heritage.

Within the history of weaving and stitching we can find an exchange between Orient and Occident since many centuries. The woven handkerchief is the result of a horizontal movement, while embroidery stitches are inscribed vertically on the material. By having traditional motifs stitched onto handkerchiefs he brought with him from Switzerland, Rolf Graf creates a third identity, which traces the cultural heritage and traditional knowledge of both societies.