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Moroccan handicrafts the eternal return to nature

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Moroccan handicrafts the eternal return to nature

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.

Other Moroccan handicrafts

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Other Moroccan handicrafts

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…

Fassi Ceramics

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Fassi Ceramics

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.