Named after Areen’s homeland, Urban Jerusalem takes us on a stroll through her memories of the motherland — a visual journey to her roots.
Urban Jerusalem, showcased in seven countries: Palestine, Poland, Germany, Bahrain, the UAE, Turkey, and Lebanon, and featured in eleven exhibitions worldwide. Its impact lies in its ability to communicate a universal language of identity and belonging, bridging different cultures through textile art.

The concept of Urban Jerusalem revolves around an iconic image that explores the idea of the mother tongue — a symbol of inherited knowledge, storytelling, and the unspoken connections between people and place. A single thread blurs the boundary between human presence and materiality, capturing the vibrancy and rootedness of Palestinian culture. The color palette and pattern cut are drawn directly from a traditional Palestinian thoub, echoing its embedded narratives — where each motif and hue carries a story of origin, resistance, or longing. Much like the embroidery itself, the work becomes a textile language. In the composition — where materials, colors, shapes, and patterns converge — meaning becomes embodied: a symbol of spiritual life, infinity, and communication beyond physical space.

As in much of her work, Areen explores the ancient concept of the Islamic garden: a place of reflection, symmetry, and spiritual transcendence. As a Palestinian artist, she interlaces it with the profound symbolism of embroidery traditions. The two worlds — the garden and Urban Jerusalem — meet, reflecting a grounded sense of belonging, where Urban Jerusalem becomes an iconic image of character that represents the mother tongue as an endless, infinite space.

Through the technique of unraveling, the fabric itself is reversed, emphasizing the idea that even when something returns to its origins and its roots, it remains whole, complete, and enduring, even in fragmentation. Silkscreen printing introduces a repeated pattern in a bold blue, making a visual statement that echoes the strength of traditional Palestinian embroidery, where color is not simply aesthetic but carries the force of presence and voice. Freehand embroidery then emerges, breaking the perfect reflection of the printed pattern, much like life interrupts symmetry, allowing a more human, living abstraction to unfold across the surface.

In Urban Jerusalem, fabric becomes a vessel: carrying the spirit of a homeland, the resilience of a people, and the endless echo of roots that continue to grow beyond borders.