The art of the carpet and the ancestral expertise of Berber women

The art of carpet weaving is expressed in Morocco by the expert hands of women and forms a constituent element of the country's identity, culture and expertise.

The practice of carpet weaving dates back nearly 2,200 years and is said to have originated among rural communities in the Middle Atlas and around Marrakech. At that time, these populations were nomads. The women thus took advantage of each stop to make the fabrics of the mattresses and blankets, with the wool of the animals of their herd, sheep or goats.

Proud of their freedom, these craftswomen never used a model. They wove according to their own inspiration, making each carpet a unique creation.

The weaving of the imagination of Berber women

These carpets are a mirror of the inner world of Berber women, like books filled with signs and symbols that take us back in time. We find in them the characteristic motifs of the writing of rock art and the primitive artefacts of our humanity.

Other signs are reminiscent of motifs found in Europe during prehistoric times or in the East and elsewhere around the Mediterranean. A whole geometric language speaks to us of the female body or sexual organs, echoing the permanent desire for fertility. The woman weaver speaks of herself in her virginity, her position as a wife, her pregnancy and her childbirth.

The carpets from the High and Middle Atlas regions, once finished, were sent to Marrakech to be auctioned to bazaar owners.

During the French Protectorate, there was an ambitious policy of preservation and encouragement of the art of the Berber carpet in Morocco. A Moroccan Arts and Crafts Department was set up, an artisanal and commercial label was created and cooperatives were set up.

The carpet affirms the identity of the Berber tribes

The Amazigh carpet differs according to the tribes where it is made. The carpets of the confederation of the Ait Ouaouzguite tribes, in the region of Taznakhte, near Ouarzazate, are the best known. One finds the Glaoua carpet of the High Atlas regions, the carpets of the Middle Atlas, called Achdif, around Meknes and Rabat with the Zemmour or Zayane tribes, and finally, the rural carpet of Haouz in Marrakech.

All these priceless treasures can be admired in our shop.

Today they are the talk of the town in decoration all over the world and can be found in every interior, on every continent.