Art & Crafts - Morocco - page 923

Crafts
For instant relief from sterile modernity, head to your nearest Moroccan souq to admire the
inspired handiwork of local mâalems (master artisans). Most of Morocco's design wonders
are created without computer models or even an electrical outlet, relying instead on imagin-
ation, an eye for colour and form, and steady hands you'd trust to take out a tonsil.
All this takes experience. In Fez, the minimum training for a ceramic mâalem is 10
years, and it takes a zellij mosaic maker three to four months to master a single shape -
with 360 shapes to learn, mastery is a lifelong commitment. When you watch a mâalem at
work, it's the confidence of the hand movements, not the speed, that indicates a master-
work is in the making. Techniques and tools are handed down from one generation to the
next, and friendly competition among neighbours propels innovation.
Instead of sprawling factory showrooms, mâalems work wonders in cubby holes lining
souqs, each specialising in a traditional trade. But artisans in rural areas are not to be out-
done: many Moroccan villages are known for a style of embroidery or a signature rug
design. Most of the artisans you'll see in the souqs are men, but you're likely to glimpse
women mâalems working behind the scenes knotting carpets in Anti Atlas and Middle At-
las villages, weaving textiles along the Southern coast and painting ceramics in Fez, Salé
and Safi.
TOP CARPET-BUYING TIPS
» Know your limits. Namely, how much blank wall and floor space you actually have, your airline's
luggage weight limit, the cost of shipping and duty, and purchase price.
» Tread cautiously with antique rugs. Few genuine antique rugs are left in Morocco. New rugs are aged
by being stomped on, bleached by the sun or otherwise treated.
» Inspect the knots. You'll be asked to pay more for carpets with a higher number of knots per sq cm,
which you'll begin to discern by examining the back of carpets to look for gaps between knots. Some
carpets are washed in hot water to bind the wool together more tightly, but you can often distinguish
these shrunken rugs by their misshapen, irregular borders.
» Get plenty of vegetables. Prices are often higher for carpets whose wool is coloured using vegetable
dyes (which tend to fade faster) instead of synthetics; you can usually tell these by their muted tones,
and the carpet-seller may be able to tell you what plant was used to make the dye.
» Enjoy the transaction. Banter before you bargain, keep your sense of humour, come back tomorrow,
and drink mint tea so sweet you'll want to brush your teeth twice. Besides fond memories, at the end of
it all you should have a carpet that suits you.