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The Lost Art of Handmade Textiles

Rugs & Textiles

It’s a hot day in the textile quarter of Tangiers, with the occasional breeze snaking through the stacks of cloth and hanging displays. We watch local artisans sitting at their looms, weaving brightly colored threads through the warp and weft of the threads of their loom. After a lifetime of Moroccan weather, they’re impervious to the heat and focused on the task of painting a masterpiece in thread.

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With over 600 tribes present in modern-day Morocco, each rug woven is unique to the style and techniques passed down within each group, creating a wondrous diaspora of shapes and colors that has become a veritable treasure trove for collectors.

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The raucous colors and simple designs create striking images, bold patterns, and evoke a sense of child-like joy at celebrating life in all its shades. Many of the weavers have never received any formal training, relying on their inborn talent for composition and color. Rugs were traditionally woven for functional purposes, like flooring, warmth, and shelter, or celebratory events, like wedding gifts and displays of affection. The modern-day exodus of Moroccan textiles and patterns to other countries is no mystery to us– they’re simply gorgeous. A weaver pick up a new skein of thread, a bird calls in the distance and we walk on. With most clothing mass produced in factories by machine weavers, it’s truly a pleasure to see hand-made art take form amid the rows of vivid fabrics.

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Soukie Modern Featured in ‘At Home in Joshua Tree’

Rugs & Textiles


In case you’ve missed it, we are featured in Sara & Rich Combs new book, At Home in Joshua Tree, which is a lifestyle guide all about high-desert living including their design principles, wellness practices and entertaining rituals. 

We first met Sarah & Rich when we approached them about shooting at their incredible Airbnb property. We wanted a new place to shoot our rugs and once we saw their house we knew it was a match made in heaven. Fast forward a year and a half and Sara & Rich have become our friends AND have written a book! In it they discuss their life in the high-desert and also include an incredible collection of artists and fellow desert dwellers who share their expertise and personal experiences.

We are so grateful to have our rugs and story shared in At Home in Joshua Tree. In the book we share a mini rug guide in which we discuss the difference between 10 types of Moroccan rugs.  To the untrained eye many Moroccan rugs may look similar but there are distinct differences between all of them. Depending on the region or tribe where a particular rug is made the weaving techniques, color saturation and type of wool used will vary.  In addition to these differences, there are a variety of symbols that can be found in the rugs, which we discussed in a previous blog post.


Soukie Modern Rug Road | Photo Credit : Rich Combs 
Soukie Modern rug in Joshua Tree House | Photo Credit: Rich Combs 

Last weekend our collective, The Shops at 1345, hosted a holiday shopping event. Sara & Rich were there to sign copies of their new book, and we had an amazing turnout.  If you were able to stop by, thank you! If not, we still have signed copies in the shop for sale, so stop by, say hi and pick up a copy (and a rug?)!


Sara & Rich at their book signing in the shop | Soukie Modern 
Signed Copies of ‘At Home in Joshua Tree’ by Sara & Rich Combs | Soukie Modern

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Woven Secrets

Rugs & Textiles

If you ever take a moment to peruse some of Soukie’s products, you will see symbols woven into every rug. Some are concentric, some geometric, some simple, and others very complicated. The common element behind each design is they all convey important cultural messages that have been passed through countless generations.

Vintage Moroccan Beni Mguild Rug
Vintage Moroccan Beni Mguild Rug
Soukie Bag Created from a small-loom Moroccan rug.
Soukie Bag Created from a small-loom Moroccan rug.

The Berber tribes of western Africa and northern Egypt boast a lineage that predates recorded history- over 30,000 years ago. Weaving symbols into their rugs and mats turned an environmental necessity into a vehicle for recording the histories of each weaver. Tribes from differing climates wove rugs according to their needs- thick pile rugs for the snowy Atlas Mountains, flat weaves for the baking Moroccan desert sun. Along with this came a proliferation of symbols and patterns unique to each tribe.

Vintage Beni Ouran Rug. Beni Ouran rugs are made by the numerous tribes that live in the Atlas Mountains. These thick, luxurious pile rugs are known for their monochromatic color scheme and simple designs.
Vintage Beni Ouran Rug. Beni Ouran rugs are made by the numerous tribes that live in the Atlas Mountains. These thick, luxurious pile rugs are known for their monochromatic color scheme and simple designs.
Close Up: This rug features a captivating arrow and diamonds theme, representing a union of male and female energy, as well as protection from evil and cosmic projection.
Close Up: This rug features a captivating arrow and diamonds theme, representing a union of male and female energy, as well as protection from evil and cosmic projection.

Vintage Aït Atta Rug: The Aït Atta are a confederation of tribes native to Southeastern Morocco.
Vintage Aït Atta Rug: The Aït Atta are a confederation of tribes native to Southeastern Morocco.
Close Up: Known for their vibrant designs, this rug features a gorgeous diamond/spider motif, symbols meant to enhance fertility and magical ceremonies, as well as symbolizing the protection of womanhood.
Close Up: Known for their vibrant designs, this rug features a gorgeous diamond/spider motif, symbols meant to enhance fertility and magical ceremonies, as well as symbolizing the protection of womanhood.

Although the explicit meaning behind each tapestry is really known only to the weaver, there are many symbols that carry a common thread between them.

Olive Tree: Strength. Berber name is azemmur, derived from tazmat, meaning strength.
Lion’s Paw: Strength & protection
Tree: Life, happiness, fertility, knowledge.

Anchor: Solidity, continuity, faith, balance and lucidity.
Axe: Tool to attack evil forces, destruction & lightning, rain & fertility.
Arrow: Cosmic projection, lightning, male energy & fertility.

Ouarida: (flower) Protection, diamond shape is protection from the evil eye.
Ship: Water, strength, blessings, and wisdom.
Crescent: change, revival, birth, death, & the resurrection of the full moon

Hammer: Power of nature and man’s creative power. Represents that which allows man to create.
Moon: Femininity, change, fertility, the cycle of life.
Diamond: Womanhood, fertility. Associated with the snake and represents the union of opposites.

…and these are only a few of the multitudes of symbols woven into Moroccan rugs. Using this knowledge, and the context of the symbols placed together, the rug pictured below goes from a textile work of art to a veritable textbook of cultural information.

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The diamond shape in the middle could represent female fertility, perhaps even birth, to male and female children, shown by the male and female symbols within the diamond. The rug is bordered and surrounded by distinctly male designs, with many female X-shaped symbols as well, perhaps representing a supporting community and family members. This added dimension makes this rug into a small piece of history, with a story full of life, love, and adventure behind it. Comment below if you have a Soukie piece you’d like to research with us!

All the rugs pictured on this post can be seen at Soukie Modern.

 

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