Berber Arts and Crafts Summary
Ellias El Hamzaoui
Hi everybody my name is Ellias El Hamzaoui and today I will be talking about Berber arts and crafts.
First I will talk to you about pottery then jewelry and finally I will talk to you about carpets.
When I say pottery I don’t mean the literal art I mean an association that helps women through pottery. This association is called Terres de Femmes.
The main income or money of Berber families is made by the father. Some women are widowed in distress and can not provide for their family so Terres de Femmes helps with that. They allow Berber women from different regions of Morocco to export pottery to them and in return Terres de Femmes pays them for it.
The next art that I will talk about is jewelry. It is usually Berber women that wear jewelry but as times are getting more modern boys are starting wear jewelry such as necklaces with the Berber flag on it. Berber jewelry is very chunky and big. During celebrations such as marriages Berber women will wear their best and biggest jewelry.
Jewelry is the art that allows you to see some ones wealth the easiest. To tell some ones wealth through jewelry you don’t look at the material but the quantity. Almost all Berber jewelry is made of silver so the material will not help you identify wealth. To tell if a Berber woman is rich you look at how much jewelry they have on. If they have a lot of jewelry then they are rich and if they have a small amount of jewelry they are poor.
The next art that I will talk about is carpets. Berber carpets are known for their intricate patterns and colors. The finest Berber carpets can contain over 200,000 knots in just 10 feet of carpeting. These carpets are made on simple looms. Berber carpet colors are made from natural dyes” Red: Pomegranate Blue: Indigo Yellow: Saffron. The natural dye tradition is starting to fade away because Berber women are starting to use commercial dyes because they are easier to use and they appeal to tourists. One way to tell different tribes apart is by their carpet colors. Tribes in the middle and north use colors like red, white, and green in some places. Carpets in the south use the colors brown, red, white, and small amounts of green. Already carpet traditions are starting to fade away because instead of making the clothes and carpets the women are going to the sook to buy them. In the village of the person I interviewed all the women used to have looms to make carpets and now since traditions are fading only two women in his village still have looms.
In conclusion I think that we should preserve Berber arts and crafts because for some families it is a big source of income and without they could not afford living necessities. Also I think that we should preserve it because already there are very few things that are still unique because everything is being mass produced. For example the fountain in the school is not unique because it is mass produced and things are starting to get mass produced because it allows the company to make more money. I think that if we lose Berber arts and crafts and they start being mass produced the world loses one more piece of originality and things continue to disappear like that then there will be nothing unique in the world.
Ellias El Hamzaoui
Hi everybody my name is Ellias El Hamzaoui and today I will be talking about Berber arts and crafts.
First I will talk to you about pottery then jewelry and finally I will talk to you about carpets.
When I say pottery I don’t mean the literal art I mean an association that helps women through pottery. This association is called Terres de Femmes.
The main income or money of Berber families is made by the father. Some women are widowed in distress and can not provide for their family so Terres de Femmes helps with that. They allow Berber women from different regions of Morocco to export pottery to them and in return Terres de Femmes pays them for it.
The next art that I will talk about is jewelry. It is usually Berber women that wear jewelry but as times are getting more modern boys are starting wear jewelry such as necklaces with the Berber flag on it. Berber jewelry is very chunky and big. During celebrations such as marriages Berber women will wear their best and biggest jewelry.
Jewelry is the art that allows you to see some ones wealth the easiest. To tell some ones wealth through jewelry you don’t look at the material but the quantity. Almost all Berber jewelry is made of silver so the material will not help you identify wealth. To tell if a Berber woman is rich you look at how much jewelry they have on. If they have a lot of jewelry then they are rich and if they have a small amount of jewelry they are poor.
The next art that I will talk about is carpets. Berber carpets are known for their intricate patterns and colors. The finest Berber carpets can contain over 200,000 knots in just 10 feet of carpeting. These carpets are made on simple looms. Berber carpet colors are made from natural dyes” Red: Pomegranate Blue: Indigo Yellow: Saffron. The natural dye tradition is starting to fade away because Berber women are starting to use commercial dyes because they are easier to use and they appeal to tourists. One way to tell different tribes apart is by their carpet colors. Tribes in the middle and north use colors like red, white, and green in some places. Carpets in the south use the colors brown, red, white, and small amounts of green. Already carpet traditions are starting to fade away because instead of making the clothes and carpets the women are going to the sook to buy them. In the village of the person I interviewed all the women used to have looms to make carpets and now since traditions are fading only two women in his village still have looms.
In conclusion I think that we should preserve Berber arts and crafts because for some families it is a big source of income and without they could not afford living necessities. Also I think that we should preserve it because already there are very few things that are still unique because everything is being mass produced. For example the fountain in the school is not unique because it is mass produced and things are starting to get mass produced because it allows the company to make more money. I think that if we lose Berber arts and crafts and they start being mass produced the world loses one more piece of originality and things continue to disappear like that then there will be nothing unique in the world.
Myriel, You had a great presentation, I liked that brought in different things such as the carpet, which led us to a different topic to speak about in class>
ReplyDeleteDo the Berber Women do the pottery in their homes and then send it to the "Terre de Femmes" or do they live there?
Hadi, Your keynote and your information are very good. I liked the carpet and jewelry you brought.
ReplyDeleteQ: Does Terre des Femmes only support Berber women or even Moroccan women?
I liked how you told us what makes a expenive carpt and why. I also agree with you that it is one of the few things man made.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: If the Berber carpets were soon man made how will this impact the Berbers?
Your presentation was very good. Learning the ways to tell the different carpets from the different regions was very interesting.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: Why do you think Berbers shouldn't change to chemical dyes, wouldn't it be easier?