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…