Wandering Camel Goods is owned and operated by Palestinian-American artist Paige Austin. Her work is inspired by her Palestinian heritage and her natural surroundings in California, where she was born and is currently located.

Paige is a multi-disciplinary artist who specializes in traditional Palestinian embroidery or Tatreez and has recently taken an interest in working with clay and jewelry making. She is also experimenting with linoleum block printing and digital illustration. Paige has her BA in photography and although she chose not to be a photographer as a profession, the skill comes in handy running a small art business!

When she is not creating, Paige spends a lot of time in her garden with her husband, dog and 4 chickens tending to many seasonal vegetables, fruit trees and a large variety of California Native plants. She is the creator of the “Palestinian Garden Club” group on Facebook and is also ‘seed protector’ who grows Palestinian Heirloom vegetables to harvest seeds for The Palestinian Heirloom Seed Library.

The Palestinian side of Paige’s family is half from Ramallah and half from Al Quds (displaced to Beit Jala after 1948). Most of Paige’s artwork is dedicated to the memory of her Sido, Riad Kattuah. He was a well-known pillar of the Palestinian community in the Bay Area and dreamed of being able to return one day, to a free Palestine. Paige carries on that dream of his and it is of course embodied in much of her work.

behind the name Wandering Camel

Camels have always held a special place in my heart and I thought they would be a great metaphor for they type of business I wanted to create. First off, I wanted to prioritize Palestinian-ness and Arab-ness in general throughout my artwork but also in community building. Let’s face it, WE are never the priority in society, so I wanted to create a place where we are.

Second, Being the original nomads of the SWANA region, camels are free to transcend borders as they please and ultimately embody the kind of freedom I envision for the Palestinian people.

Wandering Camel Goods is so much more than just an art shop. Here, we are loud and proud about SWANA* heritage and culture, we CARE about the environment and the earth and we believe in the collective liberation of all oppressed peoples.

Everything in the Wandering Camel Goods shop reflects these values and is either designed and made by hand or vintage/antique. Absolutely ZERO AI is used in the design and/or creation of our artwork.

Wandering Camel Goods, from its inception, was created to inspire a sense of belonging and togetherness for the SWANA, specifically Palestinian, diaspora community, Bilad al-Sham بلاد الشام and greater SWANA region. All of our artwork is aimed at changing the narrative of the Arab community in the west. For too long, our people have been over-looked and misrepresented. The truth is, our culture is beautiful, our native tongue is a love language and our history is as rich as it is painful.

We often attend in-person, local pop-up market events as a vendor. You can check which events we are planning to attend on the Event Calendar page! Stop by our booth and say hello! ♡