Cape Town Stitch to Resist (CTS2R) was born from a longing to turn heartbreak into collective action. In late 2023, answering Palestinian -Jordanian artist Elian Elias-Aboudi's Threads of Diaspora call, I gathered 14 women who chose to stitch instead of turning away. In grief, protest and prayer, we created 21 Tatreez squares and sent them to Canada as part of an international solidarity artwork. Since then we have grown into a community-led non-profit organisation that uses traditional handcrafts such as Palestinian embroidery, known as Tatreez, as a tool for social justice, storytelling, and collective healing. Founded by myself, the collective focuses on peaceful resistance and preserving cultural heritage through creative handwork. 

Mission

We create safe, trauma-aware, and community-rooted spaces where people, particularly women and those impacted by systemic and generational harm, can process lived experience, honour memory, and reclaim agency through embodied creative practice.

Our work challenges silence, erasure, and dominant narratives by centering slow, intentional, and relational forms of resistance, where care, dignity, and truth are prioritised over productivity.

​​What We Do

• Community Stitching Circles

• Collective Storytelling Through Textiles

• Remembrance & Solidarity Projects

• Exhibitions & Public Witnessing

• Healing-Centred Creative Facilitation

• Partnerships & Community Collaboration