How to Participate
Step 1: Register & Create Your Quilt Tile!
You are invited to create a quilt tile at home (size: 12”x12”) as an expression of solidarity with
the Palestinian community and rejection of war. Each tile becomes a stitched message — a
gesture of memory, resistance, and hope.
You may create your tile individually or as part of a collective circle — with friends, family,
students, or community members. You will use your own materials; we will not be sending
supplies. Fabric collage, thread, embroidery, tatreez (traditional cross stitch), appliqué — all
forms of textile expression are welcome.
Once you register, you will receive an email with:
- Creation guidelines
- Optional design templates for inspiration
- Mailing instructions
Please allow yourself time to complete your tile and mail it to Detroit by May 1st. In Detroit, we
will host a sewing session with local textile artists to stitch each contribution into one collective
quilt.
The finished quilt will be displayed at various events and spaces connected to WILPF US and
City of Asylum/Detroit, carrying our shared call for dignity, justice, and peace into different
spaces.
No previous experience is required!
Register to participate by April 11.
Step 2: Attend the Virtual Workshop & Artist Talk (optional) – April 12, 11am ET
You’ll have the opportunity to join a special session with Taimaa Salama, who will share
practical tips and creative techniques for your quilt tile. She will also speak about her journey
and how her artistic practice helps build collective memory, allows for grief, and builds bridges
with communities and artists around the world. The workshop is encouraged but not required —
you are welcome to create and send your quilt tile even if you’re unable to attend.
Step 3: Mail Your Tile
Once you’ve finished your quilt tile, please mail it by Friday, May 1st, to ensure it arrives on
time. Shipping details and the mailing address will be sent to you after you register. Participants
are responsible for the shipping cost, which typically ranges between $5–$10, depending on
weight and location.
Who is the artist?
Taimaa Salama is a Palestinian visual artist and sculptor originally from Gaza. She is currently a Fellow-in-Exile at City of Asylum/Detroit. Taimaa’s tactile paintings combine sculpture, photography, and Palestinian traditional craft in ways that allow blind and low-vision children to engage with art. Her work has been profiled by Al Jazeera and Global Times.
Taimaa came to her practice during her undergraduate studies. While completing an assignment for class in relief paintings, Israel enforced a blackout across her city. Working with clay in the dark (in a studio with holes in the roof from a prior bombing), she imagined that this might be similar to how a person with blindness encounters the world through touch. She set out to make art for people with visual disabilities, especially children.
In 2024, she lost all of her artwork when her art center was bombed. She fled Gaza with her husband and baby just before the border closed. Today, Taimaa lives in exile in Oman. Taimaa was expected to arrive in the United States in 2025. However, her visa was revoked. She is now a City of Asylum fellow-in-exile, and she is rebuilding her life and artistic practice to uphold the spirit of her people’s history and strength. For Taimaa, art is a way to survive, to bear witness, and to stand in solidarity with her people in Gaza.
Frequently Asked Questions
The finished quilt will be displayed at events and community venues connected to the work of
WILPF US and City of Asylum/Detroit.
Yes. You are welcome to use materials you already have — fabric scraps, embroidery,
appliqué, paint, stitching, mixed media, etc. We simply ask that your tile remains flexible and
can be stitched together with others.
Participants are responsible for shipping costs. For U.S. participants, shipping typically ranges
from $5–$10 depending on weight and location.
Yes. We welcome creative expressions of solidarity, dignity, collective memory, and a rejection
of war and violence. We ask that tiles do not include hate speech, discriminatory language, or
imagery that promotes harm.
The Crafting Justice Gaza Memorial Quilt is organized by WILPF US and City of Asylum/Detroit.
WILPF US has been opposing militarization, lifting democracy and building peace since 1915.
City of Asylum/Detroit provides two-year fellowships for writers and artists in exile who face
persecution in their home countries.
Unfortunately, due to time constraints, this project is only available to people located in the US.
For more information, please contact:
Lorena Rodriguez, WILPF US, lorena@wilpfus.org
Sofia Farah, City of Asylum/Detroit, sofia@cityofasylumdetroit.org
