Français – عربي – ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ – English
For thousands of years, the Amazigh in North Africa have been making carpets out of sheep, goat and camel wool. The motifs and symbols on these carpets are inspired by traditional Amazigh beliefs, and from the history of the Amazigh tribes. As such, they are a genuine witness to the history and culture of the Amazigh people. Today, Amazigh carpets are an important part of the North African cultural heritage.
Traditional carpets are made out of wool, the main economic resource produced by the ancient Amazigh, as they were mostly herders. Sheep wool carpets are the most common, but there are also carpets made of goat wool, or even camel wool further South. Carpet makers distinguish deep pile carpets – qtifa (قتيفة) in Arabic, tagdift (ⵜⴰⴳⴷⵉⴼⵜ) in Tamazight – which are mostly produced in the mountain regions, and short-hair carpets – zerbiya (زربية) or tazerbit (ⵜⴰⵥⵕⴱⵉⵜ) – produced mostly by sedentary people in the towns.
The motifs and symbols visible on the carpets are inspired by nature and traditional beliefs. They also incorporate elements that are specific to the tribe, its origins, history, and values. Carpet motifs thus became the emblems of the tribe that created them, representing their tribal identity before neighbouring tribes.
Carpets are traditionally woven by women, as a skill mothers teach their daughters from generation to generation, on the same weaving loom. Carpets made by young women are often part of their dowry when they get married. Today, especially in rural regions, female carpet cooperatives play an important economic role, as they provide jobs to thousands of women, who are thus enabled to use their ancestral know-how, while gaining an income from it.
Three types of traditional Amazigh carpets are especially popular:
– Beni Ouarain: created by a tribe living in the Atlas mountains, they are long-hair carpets, originally made as a protection against cold during the harsh mountain winters. Their motifs are usually quite simple: black or brown geometrical shapes (lines, diamonds or triangles) on a white or beige background.
– Azilal: originally from the town of Azilal, they are 100% virgin wool. Their motifs, made of a single line of knots and one or two woven lines, combine colored motifs and numerous Amazigh symbole.
– Zanafi: originally from the region of Ouarzazate, they are woven with wool yarns, according to a special method, inspired from Eastern carpets, which allows the impression of particularly complex shapes on fine, light carpets.
