{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1774368"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1774368/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PE2924/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PE2924/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2025PE2924","copyright":"© Victoria & Albert Museum","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PE2923","copyright":"© Victoria & Albert Museum","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PE2908","copyright":"© Victoria & Albert Museum","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PE2907","copyright":"© Victoria & Albert Museum","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PE2906","copyright":"© Victoria & Albert Museum","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PE2905","copyright":"© Victoria & Albert Museum","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O1774368/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1774368","accessionNumber":"ME.15:1 to 6-2024","objectType":"Aya Haidar, Safe Space series, 2023, embroidery on wooden hoops","titles":[{"title":"Safe Space","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"<i>Safe Space </i>by Aya Haidar documents the her mother’s memories of growing up in Lebanon during the Civil War (1975-1990), and the simple steps her family took to stay safe in this time. \n\nIn one scene, <i>Stray Bullets</i>, we see the artist’s grandmother sitting in her house wearing a cooking pot on her head, as protection from stray bullets that would fly in through the window - in another, children are wearing these in the swimming pool. In <i>Sniper</i>, mother and child go to the market wearing pan lids over their clothing as makeshift bullet-proof vests; <i>Door Frame</i> sees them sheltering in the threshold as ominous cracks appear in the walls. In <i>Bedtime</i>, the family are pictured sleeping below their bedframes, in case the roof caved in during an air raid. <i>Shattered</i> depicts the frustration Haidar's grandmother felt at having to continually remove glass from broken windows from her furniture. The family ended up piling their sofa and chairs in the middle of their living room and sitting on the floor instead. In this scene, Haidar has added delicate  beads to the embroidery, to stand in for the shattered glass fragments.\n\nHaidar has used the kind of familiar domestic textile we associate with the safety of home - including a 1970s yellow floral fabric that came from the very Lebanese house she depicts. The bright, colourful nature of the embroideries means that from a distance a viewer might assume the stories they tell are cheerful in nature. Coming closer, the darker narratives of the scenes become evident, as one sees the house crumble, and understands the context of war that underpins the work.  \r\n\r\n<i>Safe Space</i> captures the shared experiences of those who live through conflict, wherever they may be in the world, and the effects of war on the fabric of domestic life, particularly upon children. Haidar, who is Lebanese but based in London, works frequently with embroidery in her practice to reflect on labour, identity, the politics of daily life, and the experience of Lebanese and Palestinian communities. She is deeply inspired by <i>tatreez</i>, traditional Palestinian embroidery and dress, and in her own use of needle and thread she pays homage to the generational knowledge contained in embroidery. <i>Safe Space</i> represents connection to centuries of women's work, and the continued critical power of stitchwork to bear witness to difficult memories, and to tell stories. \n\nThe series was included in the display <i>Tatreez: Palestinian Embroidery</i>, in the Jameel Gallery at V&amp;A South Kensington, 17 May 2025 - 31 May 2026. ","physicalDescription":"","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Aya Haidar","id":"AUTH403837"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"cotton (textile)","id":"AAT14067"},{"text":"wood","id":"AAT11914"}],"techniques":[{"text":"embroidering","id":"AAT53653"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"Embroidery","id":"THES48960"},{"text":"Middle East","id":"THES268061"},{"text":"Jameel Acquisition","id":"THES416100"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MES","id":"THES48607"},"images":["2025PE2924","2025PE2923","2025PE2908","2025PE2907","2025PE2906","2025PE2905"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"005","id":"THES394962"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"005","id":"THES394962"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"005","id":"THES394962"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"005","id":"THES394962"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"005","id":"THES394962"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"005","id":"THES394962"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Embroidery","id":"THES396555"}],[{"text":"Embroidery","id":"THES396555"}],[{"text":"Embroidery","id":"THES396555"}],[{"text":"Embroidery","id":"THES396555"}],[{"text":"Embroidery","id":"THES396555"}],[{"text":"Embroidery","id":"THES396555"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"2023","earliest":"2023-01-01","latest":"2023-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Jameel Acquisition","dimensions":[{"dimension":"","value":"","unit":"","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"30","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Six embroideries by Lebanese artist Aya Haidar. <i>Safe Space</i> is the series name, individual scenes are titled <i>Shattered, Sniper, Stray Bullets, Bedtime, Fire Bomb, Door Frame</i>","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"<b>Aya Haidar\r\n<i>Safe Space</i>\r\n2023</b>\r\n\r\nThese embroideries document a family trying to stay safe in wartime. A woman sits on her sofa with a cooking pot on her head, to protect from shattered glass or shrapnel. A mother and child wear pan lids to the market as makeshift bulletproof vests, and children sleep under their beds during an air raid. Inspired by memories of her mother, who grew up during the Civil War in Lebanon (1975–90), Haidar uses <i>tatreez</i> to capture the human experience of conflict.\r\n\r\n<b>Embroidery on cotton, wooden hoops\r\nMuseum no. ME.15-2024\r\nJameel Acquisition</b>\r\n","date":{"text":"01/04/2025","earliest":"2025-04-01","latest":"2025-04-01"}},{"text":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null}}],"partNumbers":["ME.15:1-2024","ME.15:2-2024","ME.15:3-2024","ME.15:4-2024","ME.15:5-2024","ME.15:6-2024"],"accessionNumberNum":"15","accessionNumberPrefix":"ME","accessionYear":2024,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-07-10","recordCreationDate":"2024-03-14","availableToBook":true}}