We have just put on line in the TRC Database an Iraqi festive outfit (TRC 2022.0914a-f) made by Suzan Sukari in Qaraqosh in northern Iraq, so we thought you might be interested in more details about the items, especially the charuga, why we decided to order the garments and what happened to it and other garments en route to the TRC! Detail of charuga, northern Iraq, 2021/2022. The Syriac text is embroidered at the top (TRC 2022.0914d).

It was on the 20th May 2020 when I first talked to Suzan and asked her to prepare a complete Qaraqosh outfit for the TRC and since then a beautiful friendship began. I have learned a lot from her and from what is happening in that far-away land of Iraq. It was beautiful to see how moved Suzan was by the recent visit of Pope Francis to Qaraqosh (March 2021) and how many charuga she prepared for that occasion or how, instead of making charuga, she started making face masks to protect people from Covid.

There were two years of delay due to many health issues Suzan and her family experienced and also due to the Covid pandemic which hit Qaraqosh hard. Because of Suzan's difficult life story, I felt the need to help her and support her along with the TRC. Suzan embroiders charuga as a means of living. It reflects her Christianity, her love for her heritage, her hardship and therefore every piece she produces is unique and timeless. Specific details about the motifs and their symbolism on the charuga were published in a TRC blog (see below).The charuga contains an embroidered text in Syriac (see photograph): The translation is: "Fear of God is the beginning of faith." (from Proverbs 9:10)

The author dressing a mannequin with the charuga outfit. Photograph by Augusta de Gunzbourg.

On Friday, 18th March 2022, the charuga and the rest of the outfit finally arrived at the TRC after a very long journey from Qaraquosh. Thanks to the help of various friends and friends of friends, the outfit travelled through parts of Iraq onto Slovenia, from there the parcel went to Italy and finally the Netherlands.

Headscarf that goes with the charuga, northern Iraq, 2021/2022 (TRC 2022.0914f).So, after two years, at the end of the Jordanian Workshop held at the TRC on the 18th March, we opened, along with the participants of the workshop, all the packages that Suzan carefully sealed and sent to me. I felt so emotional while I was following Suzan's instructions about how to dress the mannequin with all the six pieces that make up the Qaraqosh traditional festive dress.

In every layer there is a piece of Iraq's history and an ancient tradition that needs to be preserved and passed on and which today we have the privilege to see at the TRC of Leiden. We mentioned in a previous blog that it was possible for people to order a charuga in order to help preserve this traditional form of embroidery. And I am very please to say that there already have been enquiries.

For earlier blogs about the charuga, also by Fatima Abbadi, dated 30 May 2020, click here, and 25 November 2020, click here.

Fatima Abbadi, 29 March 2022