You must have seen him already or if not, you will see him soon: an elderly man, swathed in a voluminous gondura, hammering away at copper pots all day long, softening an unworkable skin or maybe polishing a piece of fine wood, a sweet-smelling cedartrunk, a hundred years old. Every line of this characteristic ace hides a secret, every muscle of this man’s body unfurls an idea. every movement exudes history. This is the Maalem, the Master, the Craftsman. He is the living source, the spiritual father of modern handicrafts, the « creator » of authentic Moroccan art.

it is thanks to him that the alchemy of popular art takes place, becoming plastic art, theatre and quite simply art whilst maintaining its true origins. On the contrary, handicrafts which are at the source of Moroccan art are also the generator of foreign currency which helps keep down unemployment. It employs 500.000 people, that is 7% of the working population and its products represent 5 % of exports. In 1980, 8385 tones of carpets mainly destined for West Germany, brought in 286 million Dirhams representing for that product alone. 3 % of the total export value, a quarter of the amount made by citrus fruit s that year. Needless to say handicrafts are far from disappearing from Morocco. where a special Ministry takes care of the future of this important economic sector that is so rich and varied, one of its finest master pieces being undoubted by its carpets.

The Moroccan carpet

“There where lies your carpet, lies your home ».
This saying contains a wealth of meaning. How many ages has it crossed and wl1ich continents has it flown, over before gent by settling at the tip of the ‘Maghreb’ ‘? There is a legend that tells’ at a bird that had flown from the middle east and one day dropped a few strands of multicoloured wool above a patio where some young weavers were gathered , They could not decide witch colour to use. So they used them all. Therefore the thick town carpets those are to be found today, contain the seven colours of the rainbow. However, this is only a legend whose sole aim is to attribute an origin to the famous Rabat carpet whose colours and patterns are in fact inspired by works from the Middle East and Asia Minor. The Rabat carpet is indeed a work of art.

The R’bati carpets

This is the supreme example of the classical Moroccan carpet: its characteristics are perfect symmetry and vividly contrasting colours : red, blue, green and brown command the centre of the carpet, detracting the attention from the strips of complimentary colours around the edges the delicate work of many nimble fingers, a treat to the eye and what comfort to the feet About fifteen, years ago, appeared in Fez a new variety of these city carpets : they contain more subtle shades and the greatest density of threads ever achieved in Morocco, more than 10 000 threads per square meter ! Quite a challenge, leading some people to compare these carpets, a Little too hastily, to Persian carpets.

Rural carpets

Another major group of Moroccan carpets is the rural or tribal carpets, which go back so far into time that it is not even possible to weave a legend around them. Every region, if not every tribe has its own sort. However, all these carpets, both thick and thin-pile, have a common trait: geometrical lines: broken lines, open angles, crosses, squares or lozanges.

The region where the most carpets are made is the Middle Atlas. Generally speaking, any carpet that is not r’bati is from the Middle Atlas. There are some exceptions however, such as the High Atlas carpet, the carpet made in the very deep southern regions, the carpet inspired by the Berbers or even the thick-pile carpet, natural coloured, white or brown, which is a delight to stand on with bare feet, because of the softness of the sheep ‘s wool.

Leather work

Being a country that breeds a lot of cattle, Morocco also possesses an important leather handicrafts industry which has in fact given rise to the French word « maroquin « . Purses, wallets, desk-pads, slippers, handbags as well as jackets and trousers are produced: in 1980, 630 tonnes of leather-goods were exported to all corners of the earth. Twice as much as six years before.

Other handicrafts

Carpets and leatherwork are only part of the handicraft produced in Morocco although they do represent the majority, we must not forget the other smaller products: Embroidery, formerly the pastime of well to do young girls (no longer today). Curtains, wall-hangings, furnishing fabrics, belts, tablecloths and mats are the main items skilfully worked both now and in the past by the embroiderers in Azzemour, Chaouen, Fez, Marrakesh, Meknes, Rabat, Sale and Tetouan.

Traditional costume

The inevitable « Djellaba « , the best-known Moroccan garment for wearing out of doors, is worn equally by men and women. Quite simple, it is a kind of straight coat with long sleeves which is slipped on over the head and falls from the shoulders down to the ankles.
The « burnous », the traditional Moroccan coat, or « selham « , is worn over the Djellaba. The « Caftan » is the indoor garment for women: made of brocade silk decorated with a floral pattern embroidered in gold thread, or of velvet adorned with gold braid, or of simple muslin, everyone can find one to suit their taste and their pocket. An embroidered belt is worn around the waist. On great occasions, a silver or gold belt is worn.

Wood-work

Another leading factor in Moroccan handicrafts is the working of wood. You only have to visit the rooms and patios of the Bahia Palace in Marrakesh to see the truth in this: its doors and coffered ceilings of sculpted and painted wood are true works of art. However, the working of wood emanates a simplicity that is close to austerity: in this field only the simplest and purest lines are used. The cedar-forests of the Middle Atlas and the Rif supply the basic raw material. One of the countless advantages of cedar wood and by no means the least important, is its slightly pungent scent which wafts around the carpenters’ quarters, for example the Nejjarine souk in Fez. Here everything is made: the well-known wedding chests, sculpted seat for mattresses, in fact a whole line of tastefully chiselled furniture…
In this abundance of different kinds of sculpture you cannot fail to come across « Moucharabiehs », one of the original aspects of Muslim art. These consist of miniature columns of turned and sculpted wood crisscrossed to form a grille: they make simple balustrades or large screens which offer certain privacy whilst allowing air and light to pass through.
Light the secret is out: for it is this very light that is the generous muse of popular Moroccan art, which it perpetuates, giving it the everlasting quality it deserves…

Perfumed by mint tea, dazzled by dizrzying fantasias, awed by women in surnptuous robes enigmatically dancing to spellbinding chants … In Morocco, the feasts and moussems stud the seasons with their ancient rites.
From the north to the south of the Kingdom, between 600 and 700 « moussems » are celebrated each year, causing veritable tent villages to arise for both pügrims and tourists. Great popular seasonal feasts, part pilgrimage to the tomb of a saint, part market fair and amusement park, the moussems can take place over a week or three days or even Just on a single day.

Some moussems preserve their purely religious character while others are more renowned for their souk, their fatasias or the sheer excitement they generate all the same, each region takes pride in displaying its local resources, traditionally at the end of harvest. In the Spring, the feast of roses celebrates the gathering of these wild flowers which bloom by the thousands in the region of Kelaa M’Couna. Against a background of colored carpet. and giant paper roses, young girls, their tresses intertwined with multicolored woolen threads, dance joined one to the other the sound of the bendir. The Cherry Feast at Sefrou in the summer, the Date Festival at Erfoud in autumn, the Almond Fair at Tafraoute or the Honey Fete at Immizer des Ida Outanane, ail use the pretext of their fiestas to bring together musical and dance troupes dressed in their most beautiful traditional costumes. With their heads covered by multicolored scarves, with their hair laced with small coins or tied with silver threads, adorned with neck laces of large brown amber or coral balls, subtly made up with henna, the women dance, alternating with the men; to the sound of unchanging chant banded down through generations.

Outliving the fairs of yesteryear, formerly held at the crossroads of the caravan routes, the moussems were also the occasion once a year, for trade between different regions. Today, the moussem of fiances, not far from Imilchil, brings together every yea the Ait Haddidou tribes who are dispersed along the high plateaux of the Atlas Mountains. These engagements or promises marriage are signed by the young couples who have had over the course of several days the opportunity to get to know one another. The immense. souk of colored cloths allows the population to restock their provisions, to renew their livestock and to repair their too, before winter snow closes the vàlley to the outside world for many long months .
At Goulimine, Saharan buyers and sellers come together in the summer for three days in the midst of a huge camel market while guedra dancers, on their knees, bodies completely covered, sway, moving their benna colored fingers to a syncopated rhythm until exhausted. These highly colorful festivals reflect a popular culture which is both mystic and joyful.

From the dawn of its founding at the beginning of the 13th century, the city of Fes soon created a dynamic fusion between Eastern and Western Muslims. The main cities of this happy synthesis went b the names of Kairouan and cordoba. You can still find on their two riverbanks such prestigious monuments as the mosques of the Qaraouiyin and the Andalous.

Early on these population centers were able to create one of the most original cities of the middle Ages and a dynastic capital that would survive until the beginning of the 20th century would witness the birth and flourishing of these arts and crafts and would become an artiste nursery without precedent.
Regarding ceramics, for example, documents dating from the 13th century attest to the exis tence of 180 pottery workshops with their own quarter « near the walls. » The most reliable tra ces,howeuer, remain the 14th century archictural earthenware panels preserved in the Merinidian medersas or religious school and some ether dwellings of the era.

If this golden age has not left an furniture pieces, the abundant 13th and 14th centuries has preserved specimens for study which have revealed a technical mastery and an original aesthetic Above all you recognize it through their decorative bipolarity by the combing ceramic blues and ceramic polychromes. like the dutch city of Delf fez is well known for the. blue of its earthenware it is a light blue tint with metallic reflections using floral and geometric designs all over the base and the edges of plates (ghtar) or emphasizing the roundess of vases (ghorraf), jars (khabia or tureens (jabbana).

At the start of the 20th century, the archaeologist Alfred Bell announced that he had discovered in Fes itself traces that gave evidence of a forgotten technique that bad used local minerals. A large plate from the collection of the Dar-Bath Museum in Fes and dated from 1274 the hegira or 1858 AD bore this blue tint and thus proved to be in this same decorative tradition that had been forgotten. Later on, earthenware potters used this more compact . Cobalt blue thanks to a small powder imported from England. The main tints used by Fassi ceramists are, other than yelow, greens and blue,some brown that to edge the designs. brown is an iron oxide called « Moghnassiya. » has the color of a raisin (zbib) and serves as well to Cover small surfaces and to decorate the edges of hachares plates.

The yellou) (dhabi for golden) is a limonite or hematite brown mixed with ashes and sifica, Covering large sur faces, it enhances ail objects. The green is a copper oxide that is ground and mixed with water. With the yellow, it is the base of the original polychromatic colors of the Fes ceramists.

Finally, some red dots (a mini mum ca lied « zerqtone ») were use to cover certain faults in the baking or in the enameling. it became 50 esteemed that today it makes up an integral part of the polychrome.
The shapes, utilitarian or ornamental, are flat, round or elongated. Among the flat ceramic are the enor mous dishes for couscous catled « Mokhfiya; » smaller are plates called depending upon their edges, « ghtar » or « sahn. The pitchers (ghorraf) for orange flouwer water (Matreb) or oil (betta) and the targer jars (khabiya) are included among the elongated shapes. Finally the tureens (jab bana) and bowts (zlafa) make up the round shapes.

Clay which is a component of the zellige is extracted in blocks. It is then immersed in the «zoubo» (kind of basin) for 24 hours during which time the ajjam (mixer) kneads the clay to make it smooth.
The squares are formed using a wooden frame mould and then they are dried in the sun. « No sun; no zelliges »says maalem Melouki.
And this is quite true Morocco was short of zelliges after a period of insufficient sunshine.

Once set, the squares are made smooth, cut and laid in the sun again to dry out completely. Zelliges are therefore made during the summer. After being baked a first time, the tiles are dipped into powdered enamel of various coleurs mixied with water and then backed a second time.
24 hours later, they can be cut. Before this operation, the craftsman draws the outline of each piece with a bamboo stick dipped in ink; using a frame mould as a guide . On each piece he will draw as many figures as possible.

The cutting of the zellige is the most delicate operation.

Leaning on a small bench, the craftsman uses a heavy hammer to cut the pieces in a regular movement. After being filed down, they are divided into baskets according to their shape and colour and transported to the work site.
The maalem has already prepared the job. On a perfectly even ground, he lays out a sample of his motif. This creation carried out the right side up (enamel side) will serve as a guide for the zellige layers to do their work.

The laying of the zelliges is on the wrong side: the en against the ground. This see mysterious and extremely skilful way of working to the uninitiated In fact, it is simpler than one think as each motif has a given colour. The laying is done according to each piece which, in the “feerragh’ s » mind, automatically determines the colour.
The maalem’s creativity sometimes demands technical prowess when the size of zelliges becomes minute and fine .Some small rosettes are made about 150 pieces that can fit into a match-box! The laying then takes place with the help of special plies as fine as tweezers.

Once the whole panel is up, the pieces are stuck together with plaster and cement, then covered with mortar the work is then complete. Turned onto the right s’ the coloured harmony ingenious structure of design spring to light, the panel is now ready to placed on a wall or decorate the sides of fountain. A who corporation of artists rat than craftsmen is no rewarded for their long hours of patience and meticulousness.
However, the true maalems, keepers of t secrets of the zellige show modesty a humility thus arousing profound admiration.

The day will come when we examine our works, that we will understand that each sign is shooting star, a bunch of flowers, a fable relating a fable. The word abstraction here loses all meaning. My craft, working with tiles, is a continuous festivity. »
Moulay Hafid Alaoui, master of the craft of zelliges, grand-son and great grand-son of master craftsmen of the same art. To contemplate the richly ornate interior of traditional Moroccan houses leaves one spellbound with admiration. The walls and columns of their patios are covered with multicoloured zelliges, whose geometry leaves the spectator in perpetual meditation : the interpretation of each figure brings to light another enigma, without ever finding the beginning or the end of those lines that wind together and unwind indefinitely.

Whereas from the road, the Moroccan house shows bare façades with few windows, from the inside it opens up widely onto a patio with balconies or onto a garden. Built with the aim of preserving intimacy, the traditional dwelling is planned from the inside. In ancient times, architecture was born from the necessity to build living areas.
The façades and the concept of outside volume were of secondary importance. The decoration of walls, floors and ceilings was therefore the most important element of a building. This is how the creative genius of Moroccan craftsmen was revealed.

The “zellige”: a delicate mosaic

The art of the zellige is probably derived from Byzantine mozaics. The zellige is, however, more specification; a product of a cottage industry because of its modest origins and the skill needed to work with it. It consists infact of small tiles of baked clay, cut manually with the help of heavy hammers which sharply contrast with the finesse of the finished tiles. These tiles are assembled into a clever puzzle representing a motif which obeys the traditional rules of a “maser lay-out», a discipline common to all islamic arts.
Right from the origins of Islam, moslem thought was the direct heir to ancient learning. Euclid and Pythagoras were amongst the first authors to be translated into Arabic. These translations encouraged the development of geometry and of Al Jabr (algebra), the science of numbers. Artists followed the natural leaning of Islam for abstract ideas, respected the prohibition of representing. figures, and very soon revealed their astonishingly creative talents in the field of non figurative art.

The creative crafsmen would get together in fraternities, and throughout Islamic history, they jealously kept secret the codes and symbol meanings. Hence, in the mosque at Medine, certain signs known only to the few initiated, marked the exact location where the Prophet’s house was built. The « master layouts »are recorded in very ancient collections that the maalems (master) zellige craftsmen kept jealously before handing them on to their successor.
Formerly composed using magic squares that generated multiple combinations, the art of the layout was constituted around various shapes: Solomon’s seal or eightbranched star, the star of David with six branches, polygons, knots, plaits, spikes, leaves., almondshapes all repeating themselves at whim .. Each zellige shape has a poetic name, given by the maalem who created it.Over 350 traditional shapes have been indexed to this day.

Morocco is a country blessed by the gods: it reunites beaches, forests, mountains and desert. Although its subsoil contains multiple mineral riches, the most precious treasures spring from the spurs of the Middle Atlas, mineral and thermal waters whose virtues are unparalleled, whose origins are deep, linked to the regions distant volcanic past.

The Middle Atlas has become Morocco’s hydrothermal water-tower with many well-known springs already recognized by the Romans, thanks to the following occurrences: very ancient volcanism from the end of the Primary era and a more recent volcanism from the end of the Tertiary era. Waters are formed a long way beneath the surface, as a reaction against the magma and come to the surface, driven by bubbles of carbonic gas between the faults of the schists and granite. These waters, improved by molten lava, are exceptionally pure and free from pollution. Three springs are favourites’ among Moroccan consumers.
Three waters, each with different and complementary qualities, one gaseous and two non-gaseous.
Two springs are situated near Tiflet, on the road to Meknes and the third near Fez.

It is in the Zaian massif, 1100 m high, west of the Middle Atlas, that spring the waters of Oulmès and Sidi-Ali. Oulmès : a juvenile hypogene water, is found on the banks of oued Aguennour at 552m altitude, at the foot of the Tarmilate plateau and the massif of Zguit. Oued Aguennour flows at the bottom of a real canyon; the descent to the spring in a jeep, a 700 m drop with hair-pin bends on the edge of the precipice, is an unforgettable experience. The spring gushes out in a very wooded region, in a forest of centenary corkoaks, dominated by the majestic dark blue of the peaks of Layachi and Toutabal.Oulmès is particularly rich in carbonic gas and trace elements. This water has exceptional virtues; it is the only natural gaseous water in all Arabic countries, diuretic, tonic and energizing thanks to the presence of calcium, magnesium, sodium, lithium, fluor and iron. Its therapeutic properties make it suitable for intestinal and hepatic complaints, anaemia and arthritism. Oulmès exists since 1933, at which time its site was destined to become the Moroccan Vichy.

To create a spa at Oulmès would necessitate enormous investment, because the spring is at the bottom of a deeply embanked river, very difficult to reach. In addition bottling takes place 7 km from the site whereas the law stipulates that hydrotherapy should take place at the spring. A very pleasant form of hydrotherapy exists, however, at the spring: baths carved in the rock where you can bathe in water at body temperature.in the fifties, a French doctor even gave baths of mud, taken from around the spring. There is a magnificent 46-bedroom hotel near the spring and the surroun-ding area offers hunting and fishing, or many walks or mule-rides. In this same Zaian massif springs the mineral water of Sidi Ali. This water is not very mineralised, destined for daily table water. Perfectly suitable for salt-free diets, it is above all the water used for mixing babies’ bottles.

This is a non-gaseous water that springs at 18,5°. It has been exploited since 1977. The waters of Oulmès and Sidi Ali exploited by the same company and their cumulated production reached 512 000 hectolitres in 1991, of which 82 000 for Oulmès and 430 000 for Sidi Ali. The third Moroccan spring is further north, still in the Middle Atlas, 10 km from Fez. Already known by the Romans, the inventors of hydrotherapy, Sidi Harazem, also called Khalouane, was described in the chronicles of Scipion the African.