the amazigh kilim carpet

 the amazigh kilim carpet is associated with the art of weaving, embroidery, but also with the Berber nomadic art, and the art of the Atlas mountains. The embroidery motifs emanate from the meaning and tattoos of each tribe and family.

Kilims can be made of wool or silk; the patterns, passed down from generation to generation, vary from region to region, as do the colours. A good Moroccan Berber carpet can have up to 480,000 knots per square metre and may require up to nine months of work, for example a Taznakht carpet, an Amazigh sewn pattern with natural colours such as saffron, henna, mint and others.

Reputed among the oldest Berber carpets made in Morocco, the Amazigh Taznakht carpets and those of Zaiane, with the Hanbal from the same region, are today the pride of Moroccan craftsmanship. Originally from the High Atlas, the Taznakht carpet is made of knots on two lines; its background is yellow, its patterns are geometric, dense red, dark green and off-white. The Hanbal is a woven piece, lighter and less thick. Its use differs from one region to another: it is used as a blanket, as a sofa or as a decoration for national or private celebrations. The centres of its production are : Zaiane, Zemmour and Ouazguita.

The raw materials used in this type of carpet are pure wool or good quality cotton. The yarns are distinguished by their sophisticated spinning and cleanliness. Hanbal is mainly red with yellow, green, black and brown. These colours are obtained from plants existing in the region that produces it. Originally Berber, Hanbal necessarily bears motifs that sometimes borrow from nature's shapes and characteristics and sometimes from the Amazigh alphabet. 

The Glaoui hand-woven carpet represents a unique style, it combines in itself all the arts of Amazigh carpet weaving, it is woven, knotted and embroidered at the same time, the threads are stretched on the sides, the Amazighs fold it in half, tie these threads together and obtain a bag for their travels. The colours like the wool are of natural origin.

The carpet of the tribes

The carpet is an art object based on the knowledge of an ancient civilization of peoples who expressed their history, their knowledge through decorative means and artistic expressions, sculptures, poems, drawings, patterns, colors, etc..

                                                       Moroccan Berber Rugs

Read More

JYVES

Share Tweet Pin It +1

0 Comments

The art of carpet weaving is transmitted from mother to daughter

 

The carpet is therefore an art object made in families with a high pastoral tradition and these families live mainly from agriculture and livestock farming, that is to say, they are rural families. 

From an artistic point of view, the best carpet is still produced in some Amazigh regions and it is made from local natural products (dyes). The tribes use decorative patterns to express their culture, local identity and origins. These patterns refer to the spirit of cohabitation, which has always existed in these tribes according to ancient stories with people of different beliefs and civilizations (Muslim, Jewish, Berber and Christian).

The art of carpet weaving is transmitted from mother to daughter. It thus creates a tradition of learning in rural social settings. Traditional Amazigh carpets contain distinctive patterns and colours and are woven from sheep's wool, goat's wool or camel hair (you can also find them in nylon and olefin). The materials are hand washed and naturally dyed, from saffron yellow to wild mint green, pomegranate and henna. These carpets are known for their pronounced geometric patterns and have been dated as far back as prehistoric times. The carpets of the Middle Atlas generally have a traditional, unusual diamond grid.

The Moroccan Amazigh tribes developed a variety of weaves to adapt to different climates. Carpets from the mountainous regions of Morocco have wider loops, are loosely knotted to provide protection against the cold, while those from urban areas have a finer weave.  Carpets from Morocco's Middle Atlas Mountains are used as sleeping mats, but in mild climates the knots tend to be 2 cm high.

                                                                Moroccan Berber Rugs

Read More

JYVES

Share Tweet Pin It +1

0 Comments

The Amazigh women guardians of Amazigh art

 

Moroccan Amazigh carpets are unique and have a fascinating history as one of the most famous styles of folk art carpets. These carpets have been continuously produced for over two millennia. From the very first example, the weaving of Moroccan carpets was the responsibility of Amazigh women both in terms of creation, weaving and artistic representation.

The women were responsible for preserving and passing on the knowledge needed to make these carpets, including the secrets of family patterns, weaving techniques and the colours to be used. All this knowledge about the history of Amazigh carpet weaving was transmitted matrilineally, with each generation of women being responsible for passing it on to the next. The carpets were used within the tribal groups as house blankets, horse blankets, standards, flags and other utilitarian objects.

For women weavers, weaving is a very strong form of identity and a sense of belonging to the group according to Myriem N. Naji :

"The happiest and most skilled weavers are those who love what they do. This pleasure is a mixture of social and bodily emotions: the feeling of belonging. The sensual pleasure of physical exercise, the feeling of distinction and recognition, notions of virtue and the daily satisfaction of small achievements. It is a peculiarity of the incorporation process that the dispositions and skills, emotions and desires that emerge from the practice appear to be inseparable from subjectivity".

Over the centuries, Moroccan Amazigh carpets have gradually evolved. Eventually, the demand for these carpets began to come from outside Morocco. The carpets began to be considered as very good gifts, with fine examples placed in palaces and important sites throughout Europe and the Near East and works of art. Time passed and soon these carpets were exceptionally popular wherever they were found. Today's renewed interest in these mid-century modern works of art has brought the period Moroccan Amazigh carpets back into the limelight, with the Moroccan long-haired carpet style once again becoming very popular. Today, antique carpets are among the most popular carpet styles on the market.

Moroccan Amazigh carpets, designed and woven by the Beni Ouraian tribes, people of the Atlas Mountains, are one of Morocco's great cultural contributions to the world. These unique and magnificent works of art, with their exciting, energetic and enigmatic compositions, seduce us as much today as they have seduced consumers for centuries. The all-natural process that gives birth to Moroccan Amazigh carpets uses local sheep's wool and local vegetable dyes, making these pieces intrinsically eco-friendly, whose wool can be recycled at will.

Amazigh carpets are part of the famous ethnic weaving of North African tribes. These carpets are among the most prestigious modernist and folk art carpets in the world: "world carpet art". Woven from luxurious hand-spun wool, Amazigh carpets feature bold patterns and textures and are valuable works of art.

The Amazighs, who now number more than 25 million people in Morocco, represent dozens of distinct tribes. Even the famous Beni Ouraian group represents more than a dozen tribal clans (about 17), each with their own dialect of Tamazight and their own style of weaving and patterns.

Moroccan Amazigh carpets from the middle of the last century are as unique and individual as the weavers who created them. The colours, patterns and woven designs are inextricably linked to the remote villages from which they originated.

In the Middle Atlas region, weavers create an astonishing variety of geometric patterns, symbolic figures and plain weave stripes. Amazigh carpets represent a comprehensive repertoire of Moroccan carpet styles that includes flat woven Moroccan kilims, plush long-pile rugs, colourful fleece carpets and chic monochrome rugs decorated with minimalist and abstract motifs.

The beautiful Amazigh rugs of North Africa are as popular today as they were in the mid-20th century, when the elite of European designers discovered their seductive beauty and artistic value.

In addition, old and vintage carpets made by Amazigh tribes are still considerably cheaper than almost all other types of carpets, even those that are new and contemporary. This makes them superb decorative carpets 

                                                                    Moroccan Berber Rugs

Read More

JYVES

Share Tweet Pin It +1

0 Comments

Carpet and tradition

 

Berber weaving is very dependent on female culture and is traditionally passed on within the home. The young apprentice is expected to learn the different weaving techniques, patterns, colour ranges and colours of the designs. Historically, women wove carpets for their families, and men traditionally produced more specialized carpets as professional master weavers. These inspiring patterns were the motivation for the production of more modern carpets.

In the Imperial Cities of Morocco and in many developing countries, carpets were historically a favoured gift to be given to people belonging to the elite social classes and were also used to adorn palaces and other sacred spaces. The more urban carpets were also used as prayer rugs and hammam mats. Travellers interested in Amazigh carpet weaving can visit a Moroccan weavers' cooperative and watch a demonstration of Berber carpets or consider taking a private tour of the Amazigh villages of Morocco where they can see first-hand woven carpets. Some old carpets are also kept in museums such as the Dar Batha Museum. These intricate carpets can be purchased in the souks of Fez, Marrakech and Rabat.

                                                                  

The bright colours, deep patterns and weaving techniques of the different regions have their own style. Each tribe has a characteristic pattern and commonly unfolds a story, revealing the acts of ceremony, or patterns that often relate to fertility and protection. Like any other type of abstract art, interpretations can be best guided by additional knowledge of the culture, songs and legends.

Women of the Loom

In rural Morocco, weaving involves the social gathering of women. Berber women sing and chant about times of prosperity and romance and tell stories of superstition and magic. Women are the main weavers of decorative textiles and are helped by their daughters or young girls who learn the craft as they grow up. 

For these women, weaving is a centuries-old tradition, passed down from generation to generation. A young Amazigh girl traditionally learned the art of weaving from relatives. It is a skill that inspires great respect and prestige. All phases of yarn production - washing, spinning and dyeing - are carried out by women in almost all the Amazigh tribes of Morocco. 

For Solana Pyne, VOA journalist, Berber Women Try to Keep Rug Making Alive (Berber Women Try to Keep Rug Making Alive, Profitable) but, unfortunately, the art of Berber weaving could be lost with the next generation:

"With the little money that reaches the weavers, young women choose not to learn the craft. "I have five daughters. Only one of them knows how to weave," said Ms. Lchguer. "Our daughters say that we have ruined our health by making carpets, and we get nothing out of it. They want to learn new crafts," said Hassi. "They don't want to learn this one anymore. And with every child who refuses to learn an art that has been endured here for centuries, they are inches away from extinction".

                                                                   Moroccan Berber Rugs

Read More

JYVES

Share Tweet Pin It +1

0 Comments

Amazigh woman of the loom

 

These women kneel or sit when they work on looms, which are larger than they are, that look like frames for bunk beds. They weave by hand, working in cooperatives of 15 to 40 people, and sometimes one woman picks up where another stops. It usually takes weeks to make a carpet, but for the most complicated carpets it can take months.

Weaving in Morocco is a living thing - it is an ancient art form that is rooted in tradition and tribal boundaries, but is not limited by the past. Incredibly, it manages to transcend time, adapting to the modern era and creating new patterns of expression that are now recognized worldwide as part of the Moroccan weaving lexicon, if not the universal lexicon.

The loom used to create the weave remains the ultimate symbol of magical protection. It is considered as a living being and treated as such. It is believed that the loom possesses the baraka. Baraka is an Arabic term meaning "blessing". It is the attachment of divine goodness to something, so if it occurs in something small, it increases it. 

During the process of yarn production, the weaver is constantly aware of the spirit world. Wool is seen as an opportunity, but the weaver must always be careful that evil does not enter between the threads during weaving. The weaver's moulds and hammer combs have carved handles with patterns to avoid evil. The symbols of these tools are also woven into many Moroccan tribal carpets.

Before starting to weave, the women say a quick prayer: Bismillah! (In the name of Allah) to ensure good fortune and, presumably, to protect the progress of the carpet while it is still in its period of fragile development. If the weaver takes all the necessary precautions to remember the number and combination of threads to produce a design, the finished textile will not only give aesthetic pleasure, but will contain power, or baraka. It will act as a "shield of power" against the evil eye and jin (evil spirit). The overall design of these textiles can be seen as a woven "net" offering protection against the forces of evil (the threads of samharouch, the great master of evil). The Amazighs believe that their finished weavings evoke a power capable of protecting not only the weaver and her family, but also the textile itself and the entire Amazigh tribe and people.

Although the majority of rural women in Morocco are illiterate (or pre-literate, to use a politically correct term), weaving has survived without textbooks or trade schools for generations. The older women weavers who train unmarried girls have always passed on their skills orally. This transfer of knowledge, where young female apprentices learn the skills and take over the reins, is essential for the strength and survival of weaving as an Amazigh cultural heritage in Morocco past and present. The different types of Amazigh carpets

                                                                            Moroccan Berber Rugs

Read More

JYVES

Share Tweet Pin It +1

0 Comments

Amazigh carpet of Beni Ouraian

The carpets of Amazigh tradition are the most important and most representative category of Moroccan carpets in the world. It is a typical production of the Atlas region, with remarkable decorations and motifs specific to each tribe. They can be separated as follows:

The carpets of the Middle Atlas: (region of Meknes Rabat), tribe Zemmour, Zaer, Zaiane, Bani Mtir, Ait Sgougou, Beni Mguil, etc.. You can find most of the weaver tribes in the Middle Atlas region. Their carpets are famous for their white and silky velvet. The knots sometimes reach 10 cm high or more. These carpets are used as mattresses, blankets and have a simple decoration with rhombuses. They are called "achdif". The carpets of the Middle Atlas are woven according to slightly different methods according to the tribes;

Beni Ouarain Berber carpet: The Beni Ouarain carpet from the Middle Atlas region is traditionally woven into a large white carpet with brown designs. Thick, it can retain heat and is more comfortable;

The carpet of the High Atlas: They are woven in the same way as the carpet of the city. They are also called Ait Ouaouzguite carpets, which is the name of a tribe living between Ouarzazate and Taznakht ;

The Glaoua carpet of the High Atlas: It combines three textile techniques: knotted stitches, tapestry and flat weave in symmetrical windows. Hand-made patterns are woven and knotted. It represents a unique style because it combines all the arts of weaving: it is woven, knotted and embroidered. The weavers stretch threads on each side, double them and then tie them together to create a bag for their journey. The colour of the wool is natural; and

Carpet of the Haouz of Marrakech: It is a rural carpet. The tribes of carpets to be knotted around Marrakech are almost all of Arab origin (Rehamma carpets, H'mar carpets, Oulad Bouseba carpets). The carpets of the High Atlas are different in size, colour and pattern.

There are 4 quality categories, classified by colours: standard (green), medium - medium (yellow), high (blue) and extra high (orange).

                                                                   Moroccan Berber Rugs

Read More

JYVES

Share Tweet Pin It +1

0 Comments

Carpet manufacturing techniques

Handmade carpet

Nowadays, in some parts of Morocco, wool is considered a shipment from God. It is said that it can protect against the forces of evil. From cutting to weaving, the wool is treated with care and worked according to a very precise ritual passed down from generation to generation. Then, after cutting, the wool is kept in a discreet room in the house.

When they wash the wool in the river, the weavers say: "Wool like wheat creates abundance". After the dyeing, which will change the aspect of the wool without changing its thermal insulation, its resistance and its comfort, the wool is again worked according to precise rituals. The day before the dyeing, they expose the baths to starlight to get rid of its evil capacities.

The weaver fumigates the wool ready to be dyed, hides it and purifies herself as if she were preparing to pray. The next day, at dawn, she returns to the bath she has exposed to the stars without turning around. Then she begins the dyeing after having pronounced a prayer, the "Basmala". 

For the weaving, the weaver asks the help of two neighbours to set up her loom. After driving two stakes into the ground, the owner of the loom says the "Basmala" and then crushes sugar lumps between the two stakes. Then the three weavers sing the following phrases: 

"We want to set up the loom, 

Every loom that comes into being

Must be finished,

And Allah will sanctify him

And protect us

The evil eye

And bad luck

Today and always".

In some Atlas tribes, when a woman sells or buys a carpet (which is created for more than a year), the event is perceived as if God has sent a good omen and a great feast is held. On the other hand, in other tribes, the end of weaving is seen as the loss of a child who has been known and brought up for a long time. The end of weaving is accompanied by cries of lamentation and tears. 

In order to have a woollen thread of 3 to 5 cm, the women wrap a very tight and regular thread on a stick that they have cut. Around two warp threads, they form decorative knots.

                                              Moroccan Berber Carpets 

Read More

JYVES

Share Tweet Pin It +1

0 Comments