Object Description

Object Description: THE KEFFIYEH
Denise Hansen

The object I am choosing to analyze for the DTS403 object study assignment is the keffiyeh, also known as a ghutrah, hattah, mashadah, shemagh, or chafiye. The keffiyeh is a square, usually cotton (sometimes wool), scarf and is the traditional headdress worn typically by Arab and Kurdish men. Its practical purpose is to provide protection from direct sun exposure in arid, dry regions of the world – notably, states in the Middle East and Africa – and to protect the mouth and eyes from sand and dust blown about in such conditions.

Keffiyehs come in a number of varieties and variations. Almost always they are made of white cotton cloth, but many keffiyehs have a checkered pattern of red or black stitched into them. The scarf and its accompanying stitching originates back to ancient Mesopotamia, with the stitching being said to be a representation of either fishing nets or ears of grain. The black and white keffiyeh is a symbol of Palestinian heritage, while the red and white keffiyeh, while also worn throughout Palestine as well as places like Somalia, is most closely associated with Jordan. The Jordanian keffiyeh usually also has cotton or wool tassels on the side. The tasseled red and white keffiyeh worn in Jordan and Palestine is, additionally, also much thicker than the red and white keffiyehs worn in other Gulf countries (these keffiyehs also don’t have tassels). In Yemen it is used extensively in both red-white and black-white patterns.

The all white versions of the scarf – also known as ghutrahs, shemaghs, or hattahs – are most popularly worn by Saudis, Emiratis, people of Oman, Qatar, Yemen, Kuwait and Bahrain.

Keffiyehs are worn in a number of styles, but usually the scarf is worn by folding it in half, folding it across the forehead, and securing it with a piece of rope. Some wearers wear the keffiyeh as a turban, others wear it lossely draped around their back, shoulders, or neck. Keffiyehs are made with sewing machines.

Today, the keffiyeh is most closley associated with Palestine and Palestinian solidarity even though men of many nations wear the scarf (as discussed above). Why the close association with Palestine? During the Arab Revolt in the 1930s, the keffiyah became a symbol of Palestinian nationalism and in the 1980s Yasser Arafat made the keffiyah a globally recognized symbol of the Palestinian struggle.

Where once Palestinians dominated the production of keffiyehs, the Chinese have now taken reign – the keffiyeh is today largely imported from China around the world. This is because the scarf’s popularity sky-rocketed during the 2000s (keffiyehs became a MASS fashion trend) and so Chinese manufacturers, eager to get in on profits, entered the market, driving Palestinians who had traditionally been the only ones involved in the manufacturing of the product, out of the business. China produces at a cost of 40% less. As one magazine put it “Ironically, global support for Palestinian-statehood-as-fashion-accessory has put yet another nail in the coffin of the Occupied Territories' beleaguered economy…”

* In my object study I will not be discussing the keffiyeh as a fashion trend but rather what the keffiyeh means to people of Arabic, especially Palestinian heritage, who wear the scarf with genuine meaning.

Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/02/business/worldbusiness/02iht-trade.4.11625509.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=keffiyehs&st=cse

http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1461

Lindisfarne-Tapper, Nancy; Ingham, Bruce (1997). "Approaches to the Study of Dress in the Middle East". In Lindisfarne-Tapper, Nancy; Ingham, Bruce. Languages of Dress in the Middle East. Surrey UK: Curzon Press. p. 8.

http://motherjones.com/riff/2009/06/your-intifada-made-china