Bedouin textiles as historical documents

In 1980, the Weltmuseum Wien (then “Museum of Ethnology”) presented the exhibition Bedouins in the Negev. The pieces in this exhibition, on loan from a private collection, were added to the collection of the Zurich Ethnographic Museum in 1986. In 2023, Saada Elabed, who has family connections to the region, began to examine the embroidery among these pieces with a new approach. Whereas the museum had previously seen mainly documents of Bedouin culture, she was able to work with descendants of the makers to shed light on the complex past and, above all, the complicated present of Bedouin communities in Israel/Palestine.

The tandem lecture links the approaches of the Zurich project with the collection of the Weltmuseum Wien. In the 1970s and 1980s, numerous textiles from the Negev/Naqab and the Sinai were collected. What stories can be gleaned from the textiles and the circumstances of their acquisition?

Lecture in German language
To participate in the event, all guests need a valid museum ticket.
Participation is free for annual ticket holders, Weltmuseum Wien Friends, Patrons, Members and Ambassadors as well as ICOM members and holders of the Kulturpass.
Registration: online
Meeting point: WMW Forum
Admission from 6.30 p.m.