Learn More About Our Amazing Team Leads
Manal Kalousai - Team Lead
Manal holds a Bachelor of Science. She is a Registered Massage Therapist and Certified Nutrition Consultant. Manal is the lead for the Tatreez program at Canada Palestine Cultural Association. She has been living in Edmonton since 1999, and has been an active member in the community and with Canada Palestine Cultural Association since 2019.
Elian E. Aboudi - Designer
Elian is an Edmonton based Palestinian-Jordanian, born in Kuwait, a BSBA graduated from the US, lived in Dubai for over two decades until she moved to Canada in 2019. Elian is a mixed medium artist and she has created many artwork pieces that reflect this diversity. Painting on different platforms, is her main passion with focus on the use of acrylic paint. Some of her paint artwork includes glass, wood, ceramics, stone, canvas, walls and most recently Ostrich Eggs. Other work includes but not limited to mosaic, cross stitch Tatreez, Collages, Pattern and Graphic Design. The physical elements of her practice include acrylic paint, fabrics, floss and needles, and glass to textiles; some of the final pieces were part of teamwork and community enrichments. Since her move to Edmonton, Elian has been heavily involved with the Palestinian community on a major Tatreez initiative and project to revive and spread this beautiful Palestinian heritage. Elian is the artist behind DecoElian, which was launched to represent her capabilities in Graphics and Patterns Design, Painting, Mosaic, Decoupage, Stitch “Cross-Stitch / Tatreez” that is inspired by her Palestinian Culture and Heritage.Be sure to check out the highlights on her Instagram @DecoElian & @ElianAboudi stories as her collages come to life with animated elements.
Khoulod Taqatqa - Instructor
Khoulod is an Edmonton based Palestinian, born in Kuwait; she is the proud mother of 4 children, and the grandmother of 5 beautiful grandchildren. Khoulod and her family moved to Canada in 2001. Khoulod is a great nurturer and a very creative artist. She is a self-taught seamstress and an amazing tatreez artist. She is a great cook and people seek her for her catering side business. Her main passion is recycling items into pieces of art. In 2005 she opened Dino Daycare center which has been running successfully for years. She loves to nurture and to take care of little children. Her unique style and creativity made this Daycare truly one of a kind. Khoulod has been sewing and doing tatreez since she was 10 years old. She loves to upcycle old garments to create new and unique pieces. She loves challenges and is always the first to participate in any project. Her nurturing and caring nature has made her the center of her community. Everybody calls her Mayor Khoulod. She has been a pillar of the CPCA community for years. She always was one of the first in the community to join, lead and participate in all community activities, projects and events. Since the CPCA has introduced the Tatreez workshop back in April of 2022, Khoulod has been a very active participant, and teacher. She is one of the reasons why this workshop is a great success. Khoulod is the driving force of the Palestinian Heritage festival, taking the lead in getting things done and attracting people to our pavilion. She is a force to be respected and honored. Since the inception of the Threads of Palestinian in Diaspora back in August of 2022, Khoulod took the matters in her own hands and spread the project worldwide and because of her the project has become a true success in a short period of time.