Discovering the carpets of North Africa is like taking a highly patterned journey through some of the most remote areas of the Atlas Mountains before heading into the Sahara Desert. On this journey you will discover a celebration of design and ancient tradition, along with the simple practicalities of woven household items.
There is a clear distinction to be made between the rural (nomadic) Berber carpets and the more urban based designs. The on-trend carpets that can be found splashed across Interior pages and Pinterest are primarily examples of these rural Berber traditions identified primarily with the Atlas mountain region of Morocco but with roots and traditions across borders.
To understand these carpets, you need to understand both the history and geography of the country. While the carpet tradition and motifs of the region are predominantly Berber, Arab tradition has also made an impact introducing a formality into some of the more urban based designs.
While a lot of the motifs and patterns that are seen in all the rugs (diamonds, crosses, lozenge, zigzag) are both repeated and recognisable, there is a certain freedom and individuality in these rural designs that are not seen elsewhere in rug traditions. These symbols are traditionally about fertility and protection and the rugs were woven by women for their homes and as such were very personal reflections of the weavers hopes and dreams, whether in the monochromatic palette of the Beni Ourain, or the bold and bright weave of the Boucherouite.
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What is most striking about the tradition of weaving and carpet making in Morocco and the Berbers of North Africa more broadly, is how very tribal the designs, motifs, and colours are. To the extent that carpets are still identified in the market today by naming the tribe or area in which they are made (Beni Ourain, Azilal etc)
Possibly the most iconic and well known of these tribal designs is the Beni Ouarain carpet which has been part of a contemporary design vocabulary for decades now. It is a design that sits as comfortably in a humble Berber dwelling as it does in a chic Parisian apartment. The Beni Ouarain are in fact a collection of Berber tribes in the north easterly region of the Atlas Mountains – they have their roots in this region over centuries and span formal borders. The monochromatic designs that characterise these carpets are a result of practicality and necessity – originally woven as bedding for cold winter nights in the harsh mountain environment, they used the undyed wool of the particular breed of sheep farmed by the nomadic tribes of the region. The simple bold geometric designs, often in the form of a simple cross hatch of diamonds is typical of these carpets, although a lot of the older ones are more detailed and personal as the women took their time to weave personal masterpieces making the Beni Ouarain so much more than a black and white carpet that fits in with your scandi chic décor.
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Until recently, these carpets were rarely woven to be sold. It was only when designers like Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright appreciated the innate artistic elements of these carpets and put them in pride of place in contemporary interiors that they became both appreciated and collectable. Originally, they started life as essentially practical household items that were used daily. As a result, an authentic vintage or antique Berber carpet will show clear signs of its age and use with marks, and repaired patches to add to its woven patina.
With the huge increase in demand, the Beni Ouarain design is getting produced in co-operatives and carpet makers across Morocco with unique vintage carpets becoming both harder to find and a lot more sought after by collectors. Like so many things, when looking for a beautiful and authentic Beni, the vintage and antique designs have more value, but this does not detract from the beauty of a 21st century Beni Ouarain carpet either.
There is a symbolic imagery and element of story telling in the older pieces that is possibly lacking in the modern weaves – but again the point needs to be made that a newly woven Beni may be different but is no means inferior – it remains an intrinsically tribal piece of art and handcraft.
Unlike the tribal (geographic) differentiation of a lot of the carpets, the Boucherouite is so named because of the technique and materials used. Taken from the Arabic word for scraps or torn fabric – these rag rugs were born out of necessity and a changing access to resources. As lifestyle changed, using scraps become a practical and economic alternative to wool to create practical household items for sleeping and rugs. These rugs have a particular energy and exuberance that transcends their origins as items of practical necessity simply woven from scraps and available resources.
Out of all the carpet traditions across the region, the Boucherouite is possibly the most playful and creative expression of the woman behind the loom. There is often a joyful eccentricity in the designs of the boucherouite carpets – some of the asymmetrical colourful designs exhibit colour combinations that are definitely off-piste, but somehow work.
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The overriding sense you get from a lot of contemporary boucherouite carpets is that the weaver has had some fun, diving into the mix of available fabrics and fibres to create a joyful composition for their home or the marketplace.
These carpets are a wonderful example of how traditions adapt to access (or lack of access) to resources, but although they use new materials often including bright and synthetic colours and fibres, a lot of the patterns and imagery remain the same – the diamonds, zigzags and crosses that can also be found in tattoos, jewellery and ceramics of the region.
While the Beni Ouarain and Boucherouite are what most people refer to when considering traditional Moroccan carpets – there are so many others. One that has started to grace the pages of décor and design magazines and interiors is the Azilal – like the beni it is a woollen weave, often with a white background but with the addition of colours – these colours have become brighter along with contemporary design trends and acrylic fibres and dyes as the weavers respond to market trends. The carpets might be woven in the mountains, but the weavers know what sells in the medina!!
Along with the boom and popularity of these carpets, comes the inevitable downside of cheap copies and saturation of the market – there are a lot of “berber carpets” being sold online which, if you look at the small print, are in fact being manufactured elsewhere as the simple geometric designs and monochromatic palette lend themselves to being copied. With all this in mind, it becomes even more important to understand and value the traditions of these carpets. But on a positive note, there is now also an added value to carpet production that has in some cases given renewed economic energy to some of the more remote rural areas as the tradition of weaving is being valued and kept alive.
Moving from the mountains into the desert, the deep pile of the wool is replaced by flat weaves and materials like reed and leather. As the interiors industry continues to scour Africa for inspiration, the Tuareg mats are starting to come into focus – as the Beni Ouarain is a woven reflection of the cold mountainous environment it is woven in, the Tuareg mat reflects the nomadic desert lifestyle of its makers – woven from reed and camel hide and using similar strong geometric imagery, these mats are a reflection of what resources are available to the women who weave their magic.
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What is wonderful about all these carpets along with others from within the same broad genre of design, is that they are part of the landscape that has inspired them. It is about utilising local resources, creating beautiful and useful things in what is often a hard and hostile environment, to last, and to hand down. It is about an unselfconscious self-expression and sometimes, as in the case of the Boucherouite, simply about the pure joy of design and colour. Alongside these design considerations these carpets also tick all the right considerations of 21st century design – of sustainability and slow living, of recycling and upcycling . . . and with this in mind it is worth finding out a little more about the rich woven history of textiles of the region and appreciating the work that goes into them next time you are haggling over that carpet while sipping on a glass of mint tea in the medina.
{published via The National HERE}
