Name/Title
Woman in Beit Dajan Dress (1980s)Entry/Object ID
2022.157Description
Lillian “Lily” I. Bandak was born on July 31, 1948 in Amman, Jordan into a Palestinian family from Bethlehem. In the 1960’s, Lily immigrated to the US with her family where they settled in Newark, Delaware. Lily was a gifted artist and world-class photographer with incredible tenacity to pursue her passion despite the adversity she faced. Lily focused her camera’s lens on beautiful cultural and historically relevant subjects. She captured prominent Arab leaders and historical and cultural sites that no longer exist today. In the 1970s, President Jimmy Carter added a photograph by Lily to the permanent exhibition at the White House, becoming the first and only Palestinian artist to be featured in the collection.
In 1983, at the height of her career, Lily was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. In 2015, Lily reflected on the onset of the diagnosis through a press interview with "Ability Magazine" (2015). Preceding her diagnosis, she received an assignment from Newsweek to photograph the horrors of the Sabra & Shatila Massacre (1982). Lily shares, "And I covered it. That’s when I got sick. That’s when [Multiple Sclerosis] started. My nerves just couldn’t take it. I’m not that kind of photographer. I do art photography."
Lily eventually required the use of a wheelchair, and although her hands no longer could control a camera the same way, Lily refused to abandon her passion for photography. She continued pursuing her life’s work through the use of a wheelchair with assistive technology—this time with a new perspective. Lily passed away, leaving a legacy of resilience, artistry and kindness on September 11, 2021.
This photograph shows a Palestinian woman wearing a late 19th and early 20th century traditional dress (thob) that is regionally consistent with Beit Dajan governing styles of that time period. The dress is called a "Naani" dress, named after the village Al Naani in the Yaffa region. The woman is picking grapes, possibly in Lebanon during the 1980s.Collection
Permanent CollectionDimensions
Dimension Description
PhotographHeight
26 inWidth
38 inDimension Notes
The photograph is framed and matted, so the overall dimension is 37 x 53 inchesGeneral Notes
Note
Gift of The Bandak Family
