(3 0 ) ( 3 1)

A protection Aesthetic
B erBer Art,

Between permAnence And prophylAxis

s Alim A n Aji
Translated from the original French by Anne-cécile Bégot

the permanence of the line: from archaeology to body memory p. 34

the rug as a replica of the harvest p. 42
the protective circle. From the neolithic age to the current day p. 44
Abundance manifests itself at the expense of life p. 48
imprinting the home with natural fertility p. 49
clasp, woman and fertility p. 51
ornate door leaves: central disk and stylised clasps p. 60
domestic filters and protective rituals p. 62
superimposition: preventative forces and islam p. 65
Between heritage legacy and airport art p. 68
emergence of a contemporary moroccan art
immersed in the heritage background p. 71

G lossAry p. 74
B iBlioGrAphy p. 75
(3 2 )
‘Here is a part of this tattoo. We only apply it with the permission of the
saints, and only on the person who believes in them and has been supported
by them since their earliest childhood. We never apply it for decoration.
There is nothing decorative about it: its only purpose is to dispel evil.’
Ahmed toufiq, 2002.
‘In summer, the door to the house must remain open all day to enable the
fertilising light to enter and bring prosperity with it. A closed door brings
scarcity and sterility: sitting on a threshold means barring the path to
happiness and plenty. To wish someone prosperity, we say: “May your door
remain open” or “May your home be as open as a mosque. (. . .) Generosity
is a manifestation of prosperity which guarantees prosperity.”’
pierre Bourdieu, 1970.
(3 3 )
A protection Aesthetic
B erBer Art,
Between permAnence And prophylAxis
s Alim A n Aji
have been neglected by a history that has
B erBer Artistic oBjects
difficulty finding them a suitable place within the division into major
civilisations. these objects were never fully islamic, eastern, African, primitive
or mediterranean. For many years they could never be said to belong to any
specific model, until anthropology of art suggested renewing the approach to
them by returning to the societies themselves, and the agrarian and pastoral
territories from whence they came. the dead yoke of a conventional history of
art was left behind once and for all 1: it had gradually become clear – and the
collection which has been brought together here for the first time at the Berber
museum proves it – that the individual objects from the Berber world – whether
they have a purpose or not – now have access to their own artistic status. so,
without neglecting the visual, Berber works are now examined in a global fashion
which honours them. A simple analogy with the real is not enough to better
understand the meanings they carry.
1 see the excellent updating of concepts based around textiles in Vandenbroeck, paul, 2000. Azetta,
l’art des femmes berbères [Azetta, the art of Berber women], Borderline exhibition, palais des Beaux-Arts,
Brussels, Ghent-Amsterdam: ludion, paris : Flammarion, 2000, and an anthropology of Berber arts
in their entirety proposed for the first time in Des témoignages encore vivants de l’art berbère dans les architectures
du Maroc présaharien, [living testimonials of Berber art in the architecture of pre-saharan morocco],
salima naji, 1996. diplôme d’etudes Approfondies (d.e.A) esthétiques sciences et technologies des
Arts, co-direction de recherche Université de paris Viii (laboratoire A.t.i) et ecole des hautes etudes
en sciences sociales, edited version, published in 2001 under the title Art et architectures berbères (Maroc
présaharien) [Berber art and architecture (pre-saharan morocco)], Aix-en-provence: edisud,
pp. 136-188.
34 A p ro t e c t i o n A e s t h e t i c : s A l i m A n A j i the permAnence oF the line 35

The permanence of the line:

from archaeology to body memory

the archaeological field was the first to highlight the concept of Berber
‘permanence’. 2 thanks to the colonial and post-colonial digs, continuity has
been proven for Berber decoration over two millennia [Figs.1, 2]. this specific
feature, which was long rejected, has appeared as the very identity of this art
which is its corollary. the past, this substrate which still rises to the surface like
an archaism which persists, characterises an art which is essentially geometric:
it invades all surfaces with vertical lines, horizontal friezes, strops or arched
panels. From the body to daily objects, these symbols also seize on all the
architecture elements that are exposed to the eye, doors, lintels, facades and
interior walls of homes [Fig. 3].
From tattoos to pottery, from rugs to ornate wood, chevrons, triangles,
concentric circles and points invade everything, lines or combs, but also zigzags
and bracketed diamonds, all combine and form moons, roses, crosses or
more elaborate figures. certain figures which are frequently used are
anthropomorphised by being designated as ‘eye’ or ‘hand’. we can see that the
body is constantly placed at the centre of the Berber network of meaning. the
tegumental markings on faces, arms and the body – a practice that has now
been stopped by religious argument – but which can still be seen in certain
elderly women, is striking due to an evocative power that seems to come from
very far away ; 3 and because we also see find very many of these same motifs,
on contemporary earthenware jars or hanbel (weaving). in the same way, we are
struck by the richness of the jewellery and costumes which, in pre-colonial
morocco indicated ethnic membership of the major tribes within the Berber
group and which have been wonderfully reconstituted for the requirements of

2 camps, Gabriel, 1961. Monuments et rites funéraires protohistoriques: aux origines de la Berbérie
[proto-historic funeral monuments and rites: the origins of Berber culture], paris: Arts et métiers
graphiques; 1987 [1980], Les Berbères, mémoire et identité [the Berbers, memory and identity],
paris: errance.
3 whether thinking of well-known figures of egyptian women or the lady of elche cf. morin-Barde, F i GUr e 1
mireille, 1990. Coiffures féminines du Maroc, au sud du Haut-Atlas [Female hairstyles in morocco, to the terracotta jar with geometric decoration. typical of the rif region,
south of the high Atlas], Aix-en-provence : edisud. musée Berbère collection, jardin majorelle, marrakech.
 36 A p ro t e c t i o n A e s t h e t i c : s A l i m A n A j i the permAnence oF the line 37

Fig. 2a Fig. 2b Fig. 2c Fig. 2d

F i GUr es 2 F i GUr e 3a
Fig. 2a tiddis Vase. Around 300 Bce (according to G. camps, 1961). © salima naji, all rights reserved jean Besancenot, Berber tattoos, 1936-1939
Fig. 2b moroccan tattoos and neolithic ceramic fragments from Anatolia © Arab world institute (institut du monde arabe), paris
(according to Vanderbroeck, 2000)
Fig. 2c patterns on kilim from tunisia (tamezret, according to Aziza mrabet)
Fig. 2d Hanbal patterns from Zemmour and Zayan, middle Atlas.
mural patterns from the ouadhias tribe, Kabylia (according to devulder, 1951 and Gast, 1993).

être repensé par Salima

38 A p ro t e c t i o n A e s t h e t i c : s A l i m A n A j i the permAnence oF the line 39

the exhibition [Fig. 4]. is human existence not physical first of all: ‘without the
body which gives him a face, man would not exist’ 4?
ethnology therefore learns to no longer consider the repetition of motives
as decoration, but a network of symbols which have several levels of meaning,
operating on several registries, and for which beliefs are primordial. there is
no ‘rosetta stone’ to discover, a code able of deciphering it in par, but rather
a way to understand the motivations of the people who manufacture these
objects. the interpretation begins with the explanation and translation – and
not the decoding – of lifestyles where unplanned events dominate.

4 le Breton, david. 2000. Anthropologie du corps et modernité [Anthropology of the body and modernity],
paris: presses universitaires de France, p. 7

F i GUre 3b
jean Besancenot, Berber tattoos, 1936-1939
© Arab world institute (institut du monde arabe), paris
40 A p ro t e c t i o n A e s t h e t i c : s A l i m A n A j i the permAnence oF the line 41

F i GUr e 4b
saddle rug, sirwa
musée Berbère collection, jardin majorelle, marrakech.

F i GUr e 4a F i GUr e 5
Berber figures, Ayt waghrda woman and child, sirwa. comb used for the weaving of thin fabrics, tazzeka.
Berber museum collection, jardin majorelle, marrakech musée Berbère collection, jardin majorelle, marrakech.
42 A p ro t e c t i o n A e s t h e t i c : s A l i m A n A j i
The rug as a replica of the harvest
one fact surprised the first ethnologists who worked in morocco: the harvesters
and rug weavers sang the same phrase at the end of their respective jobs:
“die, die, oh field! Glory to he who does not die! our lord may give you back your
life.” 5
henri Basset reported that at the start of the twentieth century, after finishing
weaving the rug and leaving it on the loom, the weaver woman was given a
bowl of water for her to dip a fork and spray the mat, reciting the following
phrase:
“we shower you with this life, shower us in the next world.” 6
this striking analogy between two supports which will metamorphose, the
grain and the wool, evokes the cycle of life, from birth to death. the weaver
compares her loom to a field which will bring a new harvest, which once dug
will merit every consideration. other ethnologists in the mediterranean basin
highlighted the common symbolism which united work, weaving and marriage:
‘during the same season and at the same times, each year’ to inaugurate the work, to
celebrate a marriage or to weave a loop, the chosen time is the crescent moon: during
this period, any marriage will be a happy one, the weaving even, the ears of corn
numerous, packed together like the wool on a loom. in Kabylie the child is considered
like an ear of corn...’ 7
the notion of fertility is at the heart of these systems; it is manifested under
all the various aspects which are independent of each other, with the fertility
of women bringing with it the fertility of the fields and cattle. the harvest is
also a beginning: the death of the crops appears as the first term in a developing
5 ‘Mout, mout ya feddana, ya sobh.’an men la yamout, qader bach moulana yahyik’, reported by henri Basset,
‘wool working rites in rabat’ in Hespéris, 1922, p.158. we were able to see (and film) this same ritual
during the installation of a new frame on a loom in 2002 near taliouine, in sirwa. while the
manufactured object was intended for an exhibition that would enable the work in development to be
seen and the weavers knew this, they still added the salt and the flour that they placed at the ends of the
loom, said the consecrated words (in Berber) and complied with all the rites before, during and after
positioning the rug.
6 Idem., p. 156
7 servier, jean. 1962. Les portes de l’année. Rites et symboles: l’Algérie dans la tradition méditerranéenne
[the gates of the year. rites and symbols: Algeria in the mediterranean tradition], paris : r. laffont,
p. 162
the rU G A s A r e p l i c A o F t h e h A rV e s t 43
cycle of the burying of the grain in the field that is worked, with the
resurrection of spring. it is around this concept of the death of the field, the
rug, the grain, which is conceived as a preliminary to all cycles of existence
that the rites of the harvest, the warping or storage of the grain are based,
along with the marriage or birth ceremonies8. these operations have been
considered as the projection of more metaphysical notions onto daily activities
and can be of no surprise in this agrarian society, characterised by the
misfortunes of existence where, within the space of a few hours a harvest may
be carried away by frost, a herd may be decimated by illness and a child may
die suddenly. in the rites associated with art emerges a mental universe that
uses a symbolic projection system which does not reproduce that which is real
(visible) but which seeks to mark certain strategic ‘locations’ places in the home
or day to day objects, with a seal containing this beneficial and unchanging
relationship with the mystery of existence. the instruments which then
surround the weaver at work are therefore decorated with actual propitiatory
figures [Fig. 5].
8 in the village of tasgunt where the iberkaken live (western Anti-Atlas), for the first thursday in
‘farming April’ (ibril filahi) the young, nubile girls, grouped in rows in front of the newly-harvested barley
to open the harvest by singing favourable songs. At the end of the afternoon, dressed all in white and
wearing their jewellery, the young girls advance in groups then divide into smaller groupings who leave
the village to go in opposite directions, to all the other hamlets. they stop to sing and dance, with a
black veil covering their faces. they pull the barley out with both hands, or mime the gesture, several
times. the whole plant must be ripped out. As night falls they leave. Ahwash then take over and the
interpreters combine songs to protect the harvest with the sung legends. At daybreak, the young girls
return to close the festivities. their mothers, standing just behind them, whisper the “right” words.
From nightfall to the next day, the village welcomes all the delegations from the surrounding tribes, who
have come to listen and participate in the festival before starting their own harvests in turn.
44 A p ro t e c t i o n A e s t h e t i c : s A l i m A n A j i the p ro t e c t i V e c i rc l e 45

The protective circle.
From the Neolithic age to the current day
these rites, which we find associated with harvests, with children in the womb
and by analogy any creation operation (body, objects, jewels, housing), is
therefore linked to ancient beliefs which go back to the neolithic period or the
Bronze Age 9, but which we may also successfully connected to the concept of
baraka, an islamic concept 10 which is certainly more recent but which, in a
syncretic way, seems to have extended this set of beliefs, which combine
protection and action; in the manufacturing operations, these beliefs relate to
the symbol and the image of things rather than on the things themselves.
responsible for growth, the baraka encourages life and may increase wealth. in
the islamic world, anything which is unknown or unseen is feared. the baraka
is always associated with this grace which was originally transmitted by God,
a beneficial influence which radiates over material goods, products of the earth,
on beings or things, an influence which is both powerful – because it can do
everything – and fragile – because any positive cycle can suddenly come to a halt.
the baraka induces outpouring, contamination in the space that contains it: it
surrounds the area of the harvest, it is present in all material receptacles, from
the well to the grain warehouse, but also in all spiritual receptacles, such as an
oratory, a saint’s tomb, a sacred place or a collective grain store (agadir or ighrem).
its power, which belongs to the positive pole of the sacred, enables it to act
cautiously in relation to a known or unknown peril; to counter any hostile force
and prevent all evil. All of these known acceptances of the baraka come together
in craftspeople, in women who make pottery but also in simple country people
in the Atlas. All, without exception, show that behind each gesture or practice,
each transformation operation is called this gift from god; often, without
naming it, it is talked about as an evidence that is always sought and preserved
by an ethic which does not need to be stated in front of others. today, while
this agrarian society is gradually being replaced by more urban lifestyles, it is
whispered that it has already gone, that it is less important than before. the
present is compared to the past nostalgically, glorifying a period which was
hard but where because of the precariousness of daily life, each gesture was
considered as vital and so had meaning.

9 ‘From prehistoric times, the tomb has been an analogy of the uterus. just as the foetus waits inside
its mother to be born, the person who has dies awaits a new life in the tomb [Buried body in the foetal
position, etc.]’ described by p. Vandenbroeck, op.cit., pp. 60-106 referring generously to the work of
Gimbutas, marija. 2006 [1st english edition 1989]. Le langage de la déesse [The language of the goddess],
paris: des femmes, dl et 1965. Bronze Age cultures in central and eastern Europe. paris, the hague, london:
mouton and co.
10 the work by e. westermarck (1926) and l. chelhod (1955) insisted on the extension of this concept
to morocco. After p. Bourdieu (1980) and r. jamous reoriented research into honour and the baraka
through the system of exchange between men and God, specifying again the intervention of legitimate
intercessionists: the chorfas. Because some predestined people may hold a share of the baraka; they
are then combined with holiness, transmitted by initiation or hereditary succession, even by mystical
channels. while they enjoy this gift from God, these men with their specific status gratify those who
approach them. A sort of sacred due, for n. el Alaoui, the baraka dispensed by God, but paid regularly
by the men who maintain it, is manifested in material terms by effectiveness in the service of the
community (2001: 60). For our part, we have associated this concept with the organisation of an order
for material profit but whose ultimate aim is salvation (mondzain 1996: 33). placed at the heart of the
group, in the Atlas mountains and in the pre-saharan fringes of morocco, this concept applies to all
institutions which receive and dispense the baraka as a particular system of donations and counter
donations: the grainloft, of course, but also the zawya, linked by a singular relationship which we have
discovered and which should be called the [grain store-zawya] system through which circulates part of
the food produced in these regions (naji, 2008, 2011). carvers obey the same beliefs and comply with
the same codes.
46 A p ro t e c t i o n A e s t h e t i c : s A l i m A n A j i
Fig. 6a
Fig. 6b
F i GUr e 6
Fig. 6a Facsimile of the Algerian mirror; tajdlib khâtem of surat ‘Al mulk’;
Fig. 6b daïrat el-ih’ât’a amulet or envelopment circle (source: e. doutté 1908, op. cit. Amulets
respectively represented on page 392, 251, and 169).
Fig. 6c (right) talismans set, silver. the hand in the middle represents a salamander and four other
hands are represented in the main hand: this refers to the number ‘5’ which stands for protection.
the snakes, also called moualin el aard, which literally means ‘the masters of the earth’, which were
sent on earth to bring happiness to humans. the pendant which is shaped like a horn is symbolically
phallic. the daggers, self-defense weapons against the predator of the newly-born males: ‘lilith,
queen of the succubus’. musée Berbère collection, jardin majorelle, marrakech.
the p ro t e c t i V e c i rc l e 47
Fig. 6c
Amulets (khâtem or jedouel)
In order to avoid disasters, some families do not hesitate to attach amulets all around their door, especially on or inside the
lintel. These lintels contain the brief maternal genealogy of the owner and of his spouse and religious incantations.
Replaced every year, the amulets are often installed on the 27th day of Ramadan in the Draa, for special family events.
They are supposedly used to drive scorpions or snakes away. They especially protect the house from unpredictable hazards.
Some amulets are written by a fqih whereas others are written by women of standing, who usually come from a marabou
family. The amulets are attached in such a way in an old house which prevents any collapsing to happen and protects the
family who resides in the house from strangers or workers or third parties that could cast evil spells on them.
48 A p ro t e c t i o n A e s t h e t i c : s A l i m A n A j i
Abundance manifests itself
at the expense of life
Fertility and life are, in Berber societies, both a promise of the long-term
survival of the group and the fear that this same vital energy will be taken away.
Far from being kept out of sight, the threat of disaster is accepted according
to a simple compensation principle: all joy and all sadness balance each other
out in a complex nature of gifts and counter gifts, placed under the auspices
of forces which are hidden but are jealous of their power over the destiny of
beings. the provisions placed in the igudar, the collective grain stores in
morocco, and in the large ornate jars of Kabylie, called ikufan, are always
placed under the guard of invisible forces, thanks to the symbols shaped directly
in the pottery clay, mounted in the stone masonry or traced, engraved and
painted on the doors [Fig. 6]. in addition, the blood of a sacrificial animal may
also regularly ensure and renew this abundance. Finally, numerous precautions
are taken so that the grain that is stored does not run out too quickly; the head
of the family takes sparingly what is necessary for the household everyday,
avoiding giving a feeling of abundance, which is a the source of all waste. the
collective grain store is the economist of the household. in the same way for
wool, the weaver does not expose everything, to avoid the impression of excess.
the faith inscribed in each of these gestures, these symbols, these engraved or
painted ornaments, generates a favourable climate:
‘Beyond the particular magic, taking its benefits, the symbolic dimension traces its path
here.’ 11
11 Francis ramirez and christian rolot, 1995. Tapis et tissages du Maroc (une écriture du silence) [rugs and
weaving in morocco (writing the silence)], Acr edition, paris, p. 142. A ‘magical climate’ bathes the
interiors of the homes where all the rugs are displayed: ‘the symbols composed by the motives are
protective, preparatory and provide safety, perhaps, perhaps but do not have the active virtues of secret
talismans (.…)’. Ibidem. this book is one of the works which best deal with the question of the
significance of moroccan rugs.
A p ro t e c t i o n A e s t h e t i c : s A l i m A n A j i 49
Imprinting the home with natural fertility
the ikufan, large pottery made from unbaked earth by women in Kabylie and
particularly ornate, are intended to contain and preserve cereals. the ikufan
are daubed against the walls of the house with a very fluid movement, repeated
each year. the most common of the relief ornaments is a rippled or broken
line of chevrons called izerman (azrem), a snaking line which is often found in
decorations on doors in north Africa, which goes back to the snake. A very
common motif and one which was dear to the whole mediterranean in ancient
times, the snake is identified as the symbol of the resurrection of the dead. Also present
in certain jewels which are associated with grain motifs, the renewal of life:
fertility, rebirth (the buried grain) are therefore used in these motifs, which are
often extremely old, and which have lasted to the current day to the point that
they have become symbols.
‘the other motifs, which can easily be compared with fertility symbols in very ancient
mediterranean heritage, have often lost their meaning, with their names translated
into very coy euphemisms. the so-called ibzimen motif – the clasps – symbolises woman
. . .’ 12
Fertility symbols, which will be repeated to our time, even if the full
complexity of their meaning is not always known, by those who continue to
use them today; we only understand them in their links to ancient votive
practices which have become completely assimilated. An identifiable graphic
exists, which appears as a grammar for the symbols. while their authors
reproduce them in silence, from time to time, like a resurgence of meaning,
their significance is clearly stated. these practices seek to :
‘Associating the sleeping grains with the inexhaustible fertility of the dead. [. . .] Full of the
fertile power of the land of the dead [. . .], the grain surrounded by symbols and rites will
preserve in the jars and silos, until the digging, the mysterious power that made it grow into
new ears and calm the hunger of empty stomachs . . .’ 13
straight line graphics, identified in particular on the ‘tiddis’ painted vases
[Fig. 2a] found in a basina (vault-tumulus with chapel) dated from 250-110 Bc,
12 j. servier, op. cit., p.337
13 Idem., p.438
50 A p ro t e c t i o n A e s t h e t i c : s A l i m A n A j i
which had a clear funeral function and whose decoration cannot be separated
from this destination where the soul of the dead may appear 14 :
‘. . . everything leads us to think that in the hereafter (. . .) by offering the body the
material and magical substances necessary for its survival, the Berbers believed that a
spiritual part, the soul or breath of life taking a symbolic ship or flying like a bird in
the sky or a runner in the plain, joined God in another world’.15
this statement recalls the idea known in these territories of a vegetative soul
nefs, and rruh, the breath of life.16 so, any increase in fertility appears dangerous
in Berber society and a constant balance must be maintained between life and
death.
A very straight graphic, adapting to all shapes, volumes and supports and
which, will remaining rigid, also integrates new motifs. Because ‘permanence’
does not indicate that conservatism is absolute: it maintains, explains
G. camps, simple technical traditions associated with artistic behaviour which
emerge when they seem to have been eliminated long ago ’.17 this concept of
Berber permanence is, paradoxically, associated with a concept of assimilation.
there are many external inputs, but Berber art absorbs them and assimilates
them into an interesting ‘overimpression’ which we will return to for the more
recent islamic period . 18
14 G. camps, op. cit., p.176.
15 j. servier, op. cit., pp. 10-14.
16 the crossover of the rug threads and frame also have this fine name ‘rruh’, continuing the metaphor
of setting up a loom is equivalent to working the first row in a field, cf. Germaine chantreaux,
‘le tissage sur métier de haute-lisse à Aït-hichem et dans le haut-sebaou’ [‘haute lisse loom weaving
in Ait-hichem and in the high-sebaou’] in Revue africaine, 1941-1942.
17 G. camps, op. cit., p. 199. ‘the Berber groups are not closed to all innovation, on the contrary, they
are able to assimilate innovation with surprising speed, but they are also able to conserve it such that
their products or techniques, whose development in north Africa we can follow, are now authentically
Berber.’ Ibidem. the tiddis vases belong to the third century Bc.
18 in relation to the long prehistoric or Ancient periods, the islamic period is a recent one. especially
as it is now accepted that the arrival of the first muslims in north Africa was generally much more
difficult and slower than elsewhere. starting from the middle of the seventh century, supported by the
first dynasties of the kingdom in conquering the iberian peninsula, profound islamification spread
between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries, or later for certain remote communities
A p ro t e c t i o n A e s t h e t i c : s A l i m A n A j i 51
Clasp, woman and fertility
it is often agreed that, visually, the claps represents the female in its gender
attributes. clasps, ornate pins, attach the sides of clothing that has no seams.
each tribe has its own, with variations on the circle and triangle. [Fig. 7]. For
the Berbers, this ceremonial jewel is actually first of all a marker of tribal
membership, an indicator of the wealth of the tribe. the pair of clasps is the
masterpiece of the dowry (lqimt) provided by the father to protect his daughter,
because if she were to be rejected or mistreated by her husband, he would have
to return it in full. in the pre-colonial society which had little use for money
but which did have silver mines, jewellers produced these prestigious objects
to order during wealthy periods for the household. A dowry could be built up
from birth. if any unplanned events were to arise, the jewel could be pawned
or sold to enable the family to survive. highly symbolic, it was used on many
occasions. one rite observed in the western high Atlas reports that when a
new heifer was welcomed into a house, the wife took care to place her silver
clasp on the threshold for the animal to walk over it as it entered, to make the
cow fertile and the next harvest more abundant. this projection of fertility
from the household to everything surrounding it, as far as the fields, is
manifested by the assimilation of the threshold (which represents the house)
with the woman’s shape (breasts, maternity):
‘the fibula placed on the threshold and in the hearth is only the representation of the
feminine image which symbolises fertility.’ 19
A symbolic object would therefore call on protection and invoke fertility.
however, this triangular figure is found on many extremely well-decorated
doors: in the high and Anti-Atlas it is generally associated with a frame which
forms a central point above it, attracting the eye. this suggests that a very
powerful content resides in these figurations or stylisations.
today still the Ayt wawzgit engravers design this central medallion as mraya
(mirror), while the triangular figures are called khalala or tizerzay providing a
link to the ‘fibulas’ [Fig. 8]. this central medallion is clearly used to repel the
19 mohamed Boughali, La représentation de l’espace chez le Marocain illettré [the representation of space in
illiterate moroccans], Anthropos, paris, 1974, p. 132-133
52 A p ro t e c t i o n A e s t h e t i c : s A l i m A n A j i c l A s p, wo m A n A n d F e rt i l i t y 53

F i GUr e 7a
pectoral finery and fibula pair, molded silver. in the middle, a molded silver oval item with
an opening pierced called fekroun with a coral tailpiece at the top of it. two rows of coins especially
spanish and coral pearls. rif, nador and melilla region. Beni chikar, Beni sidel, Beni Bou ifrah.
musée Berbère collection, jardin majorelle, marrakech
F i GUr e 7b
pectoral finery with fibula, tizerzaï, silver, green and yellow enamel, glass. the two chains are attached
thanks to an enameled ball called ‘tagmoute’, the set comes with pendant coins. Fibula typical of
tiznit, souss region.
musée Berbère collection, jardin majorelle, marrakech
54 A p ro t e c t i o n A e s t h e t i c : s A l i m A n A j i
F i GUre 7c
Fibula pair shaped as a ‘ram head’. haha, Atlantic side of the high Atlas.
musée Berbère collection, jardin majorelle, marrakech
c l A s p, wo m A n A n d F e rt i l i t y 55
forces of evil at the same time as it protects the entire home. together, with
the decorated fibulas they act as a talisman 20 and a promise of abundance
[Fig. 9]. the link between a triangular plastic figure and its reference (breasts,
sex, fertility) has often been evoked; it takes on its full meaning through this
rite. we understand that the homes, because they are decorated with this female
figure, are guaranteed fertility – abundance, peace and other positive values.
they clearly show the symbolism with which they are charged. we may
therefore conclude with p. Bourdieu that:
‘most of the technical and ritual actions that fall to women are guided by the objective
intention to make the home […] the receptacle for the prosperity that comes from
outside, the stomach which, like the earth, welcomes the seed and, vice versa, combats
the action of all centrifugal forces, able to strip the home of everything it has been
given.’ 21
in this sacred, or at least highly protected – location which is the home –
the sanctuary of the family religion, to quote Germaine laoust-chantréaux,
or even what is called the h’orma, in these regions (the idea of the household in
everything which evokes the sacred around the family, the fertility of the couple
and agrarian daily life), everything is implemented so that the site is shielded
by all sheltering virtues, related to protection and abundance. symbolic
references to fertility stylised to a greater or lesser degree are observed in many
Berber rooms. Applied to doors, painted, drawn or moulded in metal, or
sculpted, these representations are repeated, placed most often in pairs, they
feature the fibula. however, while these traits, symbols and designs reproduce
this object most often, the meaning they carry exceeds the reference object.
it should be noted that the fibulas have been listed at certain very old
20 the word ‘talisman’ links back to any figurative or written magical rite; it is no longer just an oral rite or
incantation – a simple verbal enunciation of the phenomenon desired – enough to call it, but a writing,
a graphical line applied to a support: letters, a number, an image, symbols, in short, protective figures.
Amulets, which are very popular in north Africa, whether simple or elaborate, are known for their
actions. they are feared, worn, hidden about the body or in clothing, pasted to door lintels and used
everywhere and for all sorts of situation. edmond doutté, Magie et religion dans l’Afrique du Nord [magic
and religion in north Africa], jourdan, Algiers, 1908, p. 143. the well-known mediaeval esoteric
tradition of the Kabbala in north Africa and in the western mediterranean belongs to the three religions
of the book which circulate it in their teaching. we know that the degenerescence of this teaching is
translated by all of these practices related to magical and religious amulets. cf. haim Zafrani, 1986.
Vie mystique et magie. Judaïsme d’Occident musulman [mystical life and magic. judaism in the muslim west],
paris, maisonneuve & larose.
21 pierre Bourdieu, [1972], 2000. Esquisse d’une théorie de la pratique [sketches of a theory of practice],
preceded by three studies of Kabyl ethnology, le seuil, paris, p. 442
56 A p ro t e c t i o n A e s t h e t i c : s A l i m A n A j i
F i GUre 8
Fibula pair ‘of the worm’, or tizeraï n taouka, silver, blue and yellow enamel. souss region.
this type is common in the south of the Atlas. this technique has been around for
a long time, and consists of tiny silver cylinders next to each other and welded
together with thin silver rods. musée Berbère collection, jardin majorelle, marrakech
F i GUr e 9
ida ou semlal shawl, cotton with embroideries representing a minaret and two fibula.
Anti-Atlas.
musée Berbère collection, jardin majorelle, marrakech
c l A s p, wo m A n A n d F e rt i l i t y 57
engraved sites at the dra, including the famous one at Foum chenna which
dates from the second millennium Bc. however, the fibulas discovered in the
middle of more ‘traditional’ prehistoric fauna may also have been added at a
recent date: staked, these engravings are reputed to be less ancient than the
polished engravings with deep traits.22 we can also note their symbolic presence
in pairs with the famous chain which connects them to each other in an
environment rich with various symbols (cupulae, scorpions and other enigmas,
but also ‘libyan’ inscriptions) [Fig. 10]. since the first discoveries, other tables
of engravings presenting triangular figures were uncovered very recently;
studies in progress on them 23 will certainly provide additional results able to
reveal more meanings for this specific object of Berber heritage.
22 rodrigue Alain, 2006., Images gravées du Maroc. Analyse et typologie [engraved images of morocco.
Analysis and typology], editions Kalimat Babel, rabat, p. 192
23 the current thesis is that the archaeologist Alessandra Bravin studies sites that are not yet fully listed
in southern morocco, presenting the analysis of a significant number of figures, including truly ancient
fibulas.
F i GUr e 10a
the new site of the valley of the draa which represents an illustration
of a ‘libyco-Berber’ rider and of a double triangular figure.
photo © Alessandra Bravin, all rights reserved
58 A p ro t e c t i o n A e s t h e t i c : s A l i m A n A j i c l A s p, wo m A n A n d F e rt i l i t y 59

F i GUr e 10b
cave engraving of the Anti-Atlas (tiznit region).
photo © Alessandra Bravin, all rights reserved

F i GUr e 10d
not far from this site, fibula lime paintings on the entrance porch
of a nearby residence.
photos © Alessandra Bravin, all rights reserved.
60 A p ro t e c t i o n A e s t h e t i c : s A l i m A n A j i o r n At e d o o r l e AV e s 61

Ornate door leaves: central disk and stylised fibulas

the mirror-fibula motif found on the doors in the Atlas [Fig. 11] operates like a
single eye which seems to tattoo each entrance and important passage in an
habited place. the trapeziums and diamonds are brought into view: ‘they are
like eyes’: a whole series of evils would attack any person, animal or thing that
receives this negative charge. however, this look at malicious intent (l’ayn) – which
cannot be seen according to popular beliefs – may be prevented. A quick glance,
a few appropriate words, a significant gesture and determined symbols or objects
would manage it. in other words, the eye and its different representations: the
eye associated with the right hand, the imprints of hands made on the walls, the
formula of the ‘five (fingers of the hand) in the eye’ and the appearance of many
fives, notably in ornamental motifs, may help to protect against this dark look. 24
we may consider that the ornate frontage of the highly decorated porches and
doors have this ‘eyepotropea’:
‘throughout the maghreb, mirrors are used as apotropaic, or more exactly as a trap to
capture the evil eye: not only do they return to their sender the evil that the look may
contain, but their water absorbs everything it reflects...’ 25

their water absorbs and prevents against evil, capturing it, even rejecting it.
their tents had this eye on their ridges, engraved into the wood. we know the
value of the beam that supports the tent and protects it for nomadic farmers.
this is also true for the symbols on all the surfaces of homes and grains stores,
the locations which contain the goods, tools and wealth for the year – seeds or
harvests – operating as a symbolic mass placed on the human body as on the
architectural body, covering them, protecting them. many societies have had the
habit of preventing against the evil eye, this evil which comes from others, notably
the desire of others. For the egyptians, the spiral represented on all physical
supports is intended to ‘dull’ the looks from any envious bodies and to lose it;
in rural morocco, the eye of desire (hsed ) obeys the same functions. As the area
surrounding the home, the door deals with anyone likely to enter the home; it is
the building’s most important limit, and must be able to help move away and
disasters, ensuring positive forces.
F i GUr e 11
house door, wood worked with great care and cut in rattlesnake shapes, engraved and painted,
geometric decorations (painted chevrons, rhombus and fibula). Anti-Atlas.
24 prosper ricard, 1926. Pour comprendre l’art musulman dans l’Afrique du Nord et de l’Espagne [Understanding notes à finir ici musée Berbère collection, jardin majorelle, marrakech
muslim art in north Africa and spain], hachette, p.76
25 dominique champault and Amand raymond Verbrugge, La main, ses figurations au Maghreb et au Levant
[the hand, its figures in the maghreb and the mediterranean], catalogue du musée de l’homme-
museum d’histoire naturelle, paris, musées nationaux, 1965, p. 9 ; naji, s. Portes du Sud marocain
(Métal et talisman) [doors in southern morocco (metal and talisman)] Aix-en-provence, Édisud, 2003,
pp. 126-149
Text trop longue [decorated door panels ?ornate door leaves?]
62 A p ro t e c t i o n A e s t h e t i c : s A l i m A n A j i domestic F i lt e r s A n d p ro t e c t i V e r i t UA l s 63

Domestic filters and protective rituals

while certain limits are respected in various ways, by words, attitudes, specific
figures, but also by certain specific rituals in which all door decorations are
involved, it is that they mark or establish boundaries between both the hostile
and uncontrollable exterior and the household, essentially feminine, whose
importance we have seen. homes were fortified in the past. the solid qualities
of the door were combined with the symbolic protection of motifs [Fig. 12].
today when a man decides to build his home, he still attaches considerable
importance to the first lintel on the future entry door. An animal is sacrificed
there at the start and the end of the work, essentially out of respect for the ‘first
and invisible’ residents of the location, spoken of in the Koran: the djinns. 26 the
role of the door threshold filter also appears in certain rites of passage, such as
birth or marriage. depending on the region, the lower part of the entrance is
clearly distinguished from the upper part by the gestures or the richness of the
decoration used. the clear differences in lifestyle inherent to each locality are
combined with the differences in building practices which must go with them.
As the real cover for the home, the solid stone porches of the Anti-Atlas occupy
the space from the ground to the roof and assume their full meaning during
wedding ceremonies where, from the exterior to the interior, they seem to watch
over the major event in a life. As spatial markers but also as receptacles, they
indicate the ‘mouths’ of houses and underline the symbolic importance
represented by the sacred crossing of the threshold [Fig. 13].

26 the jnoun (djinns) are superior creations. According to the Koran which quotes them many times,
they were the first inhabitants of a place from which they were chased out, but which still wander or
may return there any time. they were created from a gentle fire, with no smoke and before man, created
from silt and clay. All sorts of belief surround these creatures, with the first of them that they must not
be disturbed or annoyed.

F i GUr e 12
tiflit Kasbah, decoration of the door and arcade alcove of the defense/guard towers.
Tighremt Ayt Allah of the Ayt of tiflit (imeghrane).
© salima naji, all rights reserved
64 A p ro t e c t i o n A e s t h e t i c : s A l i m A n A j i
F i GUre 13a
mural engravings called ‘circular shields’, after Alain rodrigue’s drawings in
Images gravées du Maroc. Analyse et typologie, editions Kalimat Babel, 2006, rabat, pp. 153-155
(Illustration 69)
© salima naji, all rights reserved
F iGUr e 13b
house door drawing of the nineteenth century. carved and engraved wood
with geometric decoration and fibula. Big decoration doornail. high Atlas.
musée Berbère collection, jardin majorelle, marrakech
The permanent inscriptions – patterns or other symbols which are more prophylactic – even today have remained the same
since Neolithic time. By using a set of patterns or signs which are the equivalent of structures which are yet different, it is
the same craftsman gesture which is observed. This has been encouraged without doubt by the use of techniques similar to
engraving. Nevertheless, when periods of human occupation influence art materials, then visual connections are easy to make,
such as here, between these cave engravings of the Atlas sides of the Oukaimeden or of Yagour and a sculpted door panel
which is only… a few centuries old.
A p ro t e c t i o n A e s t h e t i c : s A l i m A n A j i 65
Superimposition: preventative forces and Islam
in the same way that amulets are hung or a certain number of rituals related to
precise areas in the home are respected, the symbols of motives engraved on the
surfaces of the facades, sculpted, woven or painted on various supports on the
walls and furniture in the home seem to participate in this desire to create screens,
filters and multiple protections against evil. these screens – which are tangible
in the case of ornamentation (amulet, jewellery, miscellaneous objects), or are
imperceptible when they refer to the invisible forces of evil (gesture, phrase,
practice) – must be able to remain powerful to prevent the uncontrollable exterior
from causing harm. the word of God is the first of these protections. the
symbols, sacred writing, amulets, precise motifs, words or rites form a series of
protections with a greater or lesser degree of coding. the decorations and the
engraved or painted symbols appear as superimpositions 27 combining islam and
less immediately identifiable symbols whose anchoring in each culture identified
as shaping this cultural heritage. this leads us to observe a dual movement in
the works studied: both the ancient and collective architecture which continues
to play a role, while the islamic model of towns, understood as an inflexible
scheme in the plastic, almost mathematical vocabulary, takes over from local art.
this can be clearly seen in painted wood [Fig. 14]. while professing islam –
because it is sacrilegious and shameful to step away from tradition - the local
craftsmen have a more personal identity that they perhaps would not want
themselves and to which their work seems to attest. the sculpted wood on Berber
doors is decorated according to the laws of geometry which characterise islamic
art; yet they continue to be characterised by a completely local identity. the
surfaces to be decorated are not generally from the same piece, they present a
series of small panels: the squares, trapeziums and stars lock into each other to
give a highly rhythmic, perfectly balanced composition. As in the towns, much
use is made of the compass. however, if we look closely at the execution of the
27 the historian l. mezzine uses the word cultural superimposition about an Arabic language for
transcribing codes which were doubtless recited in Berber and where the two languages are placed on
top of each other such that it is difficult to isolate them from each. it appears to us that this is what is
happening in Berber art, which appears as a summary, larbi mezzine, 1987, The Tafilalt (Contribution
to the History of Morocco in the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries), Faculté des lettres et sciences humaines de
rabat, p. 9
66 A p ro t e c t i o n A e s t h e t i c : s A l i m A n A j i sUperimposition: p r e V e n tAt i V e F o rc e s A n d islAm 67

embossed motifs, we can see a very regular and repetitive line, but which has a
geometry with which we are familiar: where we see more this vocabulary
encountered previously for the Berber arts previously mentioned for rugs or
pottery, than a purely islamic vocabulary. embossing ignores the model; the edges
are sharp as for the sculpture of high reliefs on stone. on the edges of the gouge
etched in the material, the dry tip enables an engraved decoration to be formed,
which will emphasise the symmetry of the composition still further. in these harsh
mountains, even if the model is the art of the towns, it has never been mastered
to the end, it is only a transplanted image of it. the figures of the khâtem or the
exceeded arch, the horsehoe arch or the vaulted arch, come back time again in
the internal decorations, confirming the intrusion of islamic architecture; they
appear raised as if sampled from a foreign vocabulary where they are, on the
contrary, melted into a specific rhythm. For example in arch niches, they may be
confused with empty roses on rods, characteristic of Berber heritage and which,
often highly ornamented in wooden art, form the start of the compositions and
divisions in registries of the sculpted door leaves, as for this ancient sculpted
wooden door of the Tighremt Ayt Allah of the Ayt ougrour of tiflit (imeghrane)
[Fig. 15]. the ornamented decor allows an engraved and painted base to be seen.
the nails underline the horizontal nature of the four registries. Alternating static
elements in strips and rotating rose and rattler elements, a triple arch stands over
a square. At the corners of this central figure, small applied beams now hold a
trapezium in place; it describes the mraya (mirror) motif, with a rose engraved on
the interior. this apotropaic eye protects the home.

F i GU re 14 (overall view and details)

mosque throne, minbar. cedar wood with geometric decoration (rhombs, chevrons,
six point stars, rosettes) where an incision is made and painted in black and ochre. 19th century.
central Anti-Atlas. F i GUr e 15
Five steps bordered by small columns. On wheels, this minbar could fit in its cubbyhole until the following Friday. carved wooden door. tighremt Ayt Allah of the Ayt ougrour of tiflit (imeghrane).
musée Berbère collection, jardin majorelle, marrakech © salima naji, all rights reserved
68 A p ro t e c t i o n A e s t h e t i c : s A l i m A n A j i
Between heritage legacy and airport art
despite the richness and the interest of an art which is anchored in a past that is
full of meaning, despite its capacity to transcend society as a whole, locked as it
is into the daily practices and protection rituals, or the more sporadic
manufacturing practices, this art seems to be disappearing slowly. the symbolic
skills held by the past generation are currently out of favour. the present
generation, this one which went to school, is gradually becoming detached from
the ‘collectivity-memory’ and prefers to see itself in another reference system,
one which is broadcast on the Arab middle east’s satellite television channels. 28
the young generation, girls and boys alike, want to take part in other cultural
categories, which carry a sort of ‘modernity’ at least in their material
appearances. the constructions and artefacts produced or consumed in
morocco’s rural territories seem to be more and more culture-free, with
exogenous forms that are poorly mastered and materials which break with local
collection traditions. Born from the landscape for which they appear an ultimate
avatar, the ‘vernacular’ architectures, built until very recently with the materials
available on site, were first of all a functional adaptation to a climate making the
best use of local resources. stone and unbaked earth were the subject of specific
implementation, giving birth to remarkable yet demanding forms, which were
hard to transpose in the constructive context of modernity and which have
largely been abandoned. the ‘architectures without architects’ which formed
over time are disappearing in favour of cubic and simplistic forms, often out of
scale and stripped of significance. the material culture is weakening in parallel
to these changes. the need to sweep away the past is encouraging the most fragile
to accept, for example, exchanging clanging metal doors for the venerable
wooden doors. we are also seeing more and more young women abandoning
weaving or basketwork that only the poorest continue, through necessity, to
produce, in favour of embroidery which is less demanding and enables a living
28 the saudi Arabian channel Iqrâ (‘recite [the Koran]’) for example is very popular because in the
mountains, as in certain puritan families, television is part of the decoration, it is a background noise
that must not be shocking. this channel fulfils this role. For these same reasons, sport or rolling news
channels are also very popular. everything is stripped of passion and sanitised and discussions on issues
affecting contemporary islam are dealt with all possible hypocrisy.
Between h e r i tAG e l e G A c y A n d A i r p o rt A rt 69
room to be decorated in western urban fashion. so, as soon as their social
conditions allow them, the maalma potter or weaver-woman, the dyer or
blacksmith will abandon these practices that had been handed down by several
generations. the work of local craftsmen, blacksmiths or carpenters must
compete with smooth, industrial objects from factories or Asia, symbols of the
change to which many residents of the rural world aspire. the last fifteen years
have been accompanied by unprecedented ‘local development’. roads and
services (water, electricity) have transformed the daily existence of villages which
were long disconnected from the world. whereas before rich nobles would try to
take over local traditions, now in their haste to demonstrate the new fortunes
they have acquired in the large towns they are sweeping a way a past from which
they want to stand out at any cost.
this generalised movement is precipitating the destruction of many sites, some
of which are extremely important in relation to history, and without the
possibility of preventative digs or any backup measures. these buildings which
currently deserve to be documented and noted scientifically are the rural mosques
that unfortunately are studied little and are particularly threatened by the sudden
desire of all communities to have a new place of worship with standardised urban
forms. But these new mosques are built on the site of the most ancient ones and
are sweeping away the footprint of moroccan islamic history in its specifics.
there is a risk that only the objects will be kept from this material culture.
these objects, in favour of museums or private collections around the world,
have been saved from abandonment by being ripped out of their original
production context. doors, ceilings and pillars are now reproduced, intentionally
aged, for an international clientele that wants to decorate a contemporary interior
with ethnic objects with high levels of evocation.
the return to Berber art is above all related to the era of the global world
where everything circulates and where the myth of the authentic is in full pomp.
motifs are updated to suit the current day and new commercial circuits appear:
designers or aesthetes with a dual role as traders order copies of objects in
museums from craftspeople. if the hands that do the work are still those of the
craftsman, they no longer do so on behalf of the group to which they belong. if
the hands that do the work are still those of the craftsman, they no longer do so
on behalf of the group to which they belong. they now work for this man or
woman, who is outside the group and is an intermediary between a taste and a
70 A p ro t e c t i o n A e s t h e t i c : s A l i m A n A j i
national (or international), often tourist market. in this context there is often an
exchange and their verve as independent creators is often requested. From daily
art found on site, we have now reached world art ordered to meet an external
commercial need. we call ‘airport art’ 29 any object whose shape possesses beauty
or which recalls ‘ethnographic’ objects which populated the daily lives of pre-
industrial. An object is ‘airport’ in that it is manufactured not for the cultural
community of the craftsman who produced it, but to be sold to a tourist or
foreigner.
the bazaars in the souks of marrakech or Zagora contained so-called
‘traditional’ objects but whose shine is not always natural… this production
continues to expand to respond to demand from interior decorators in european
capitals or ‘riads’. it becomes the cornerstone of a reverse trade which makes
rural dwellers acquire an arsenal of industrial objects. in this context,
craftspeople have no choice than to adapt to the new market. living treasures
that possess skills related to a material memory, craftspeople are now dying or
becoming small factories, repeating the ancient adapted to today’s tastes.
nevertheless, at the same time as this change, the awareness of this
disappearance and the loss of identity it brings is starting to emerge. slowly there
is a return to the rural and its potential. Unfortunately, the approach which
neglects the manufacturing circuits or which encloses the residents in a defined
conservatory misses the target. the desire to reinvest in ancient architecture at
all times with the desire to ‘improve it’ to force its longevity shows that cultural
confidence is not always in attendance. the local populations are not familiar
with the value of traditional informal techniques and are astonished of the
importance given to them. A systematic refusal to apply local techniques is now
clear, with an unprecedented massive use of cement chaining and of other urban
processes which are not well masterized (such as industrial earthenware on walls,
corbelled constructions made of concrete, plaster constructions on outside
cornices, etc.). this lead to the loss of local shapes and to the will to replace them
by tabula rasa. modern excessive constructions irreversibly transformed a cultural
landscape shaped by thousand years.
29 ‘Airport art’ est formulé pour la première fois par Graburn pour parler d’objets fabriqués pour
ressembler à des objets ‘authentiques’ mais à destination d’un public averti. in nelson h. h. Graburn
(éd.), 1976. ethnic and tourist arts: cultural expressions from the fourth world. Berkeley, University of
california press, p.106. To be translated
A p ro t e c t i o n A e s t h e t i c : s A l i m A n A j i 71
Emergence of a contemporary Moroccan art
immersed in the heritage background
Any yet, even if the material culture has been profoundly altered, the non-
material culture has a certain resilience and above all is very regularly becoming
the backdrop to a new cultural movement. the contemporary art of the post-
independence years, and moroccan literature, notably of French expression of
the same decades, has taken over art of Berber culture once again, which we
now call amazighe. the knowledge that has brewed over the years and that we
have tried to highlight here is actually being rediscovered by an entire generation
which is aware of the living presence of this heritage and is striving to adopt it.
And at this time where the world, which many of these artists knew, is about to
tip over: ‘the agony of certain monuments is more significant even than their
moment of glory. their light flashes before going out’ wrote jean Genet. 30 this
generation feels that it is the last to have had the privilege of grasping this world,
at a time when it is becoming decrepit, assailed by new values.
the interior paintings of the rif, the tattoos of women in the Atlas, the
production of rugs, the richness of gems and jewellery, the painting on leather,
the ceramic decoration by black, red and white lines will nourish the work of
modern moroccan painters: cherkaoui, Gharbaoui or Belkahia to name just a
few. they all use symbols, they all seek the origin of an art and practices in
‘traditional’ arts, which they feel are timeless. At the same time as this search for
origins, the philosopher Abdelkébir Khatibi questioned his own writings, in
relation to this heritage of symbols, making himself their spokesperson:
‘we must (provisionally) accept this change in values which bound the word to the
graphical to accept with us that tattooing is writing by points (.…) for which we suppose
that it obeys knowledge, a skills, a desire, the circulation of symbols, both marked on the
body and migrating to other areas, signs whose original symbolism is often lost for us but
whose still-living inscription defies our theories of symbols.’ 31
30 jean Genet, 1946. Miracle of the rose, l.’Arbalète, paris, .complete works, Vol. 2., paris, Gallimard,
p. 213
31 Abdelkébir Khatibi, 1974. La blessure du nom propre, paris, denoël, p. 64
72 A p ro t e c t i o n A e s t h e t i c : s A l i m A n A j i e m e rG e n c e o F A c o n t e m p o r A ry m o ro c c A n A rt 73

toni maraini who has observed much of the pictorial production of those museums, which only show that times have changed, it seems necessary to
years that she saw from within, suggested connecting it to ethnography. 32 this support a creative movement, which is the only one that can guarantee a long-
‘hieroglyphic’ alphabet (Boughali), this ‘point writing’ (Khatibi), this ‘graphic or term future for this multi-secular heritage.
signs and symbols’ (sijelmassi), specific to Berber arts in their entirety returns us the Berber museum in marrakech contributes to bring this within everyone’s
to all ontological questions. From the experience of tattoos, noted and reach, while ennobling a culture that was long denigrated and threatened by the
retranscribed on calques for later analysis,33 doctor sijelmassi also offered a new complexity of a heritage that we must not allow to die.
reading of moroccan art by associating it with both ‘popular’ arts and
contemporary art, by proposing through detailed works a sort of ‘imaginary
museum’ of moroccan art. 34
therefore it is just as Berber art was seeking to only reproduce in hidden places,
cut off from the world, that a resolutely modern style of painting which is
influenced by a very ancient common fund is emerging. the medium, via oil or
acrylic painting and the support of generally both dimensions of space works on
a contemporary register.
over the course of this same time, a whole strand of literature questioned the
oral nature of a culture, the power of its myths transmitted by collective memory.
many attempts to re-write the language were made, seeking to create something
new while taking influence from the source of popular Berber practices.
the writer mohamed Khaïr-eddine represents this figure of the wanderer
placed between the eternal utopia of ‘Berber civilisation’ and the liberty covered
in the reinvestment of the chleuh heritage. Legend and life of Agounchich 35 delivers
the summary of a territorial memory, which the poet invites us to investigate,
looking at certain eminently existential locations of ‘Berber civilisation’, that he
feels has escaped and in immemorial. But, like the argan tree, it is able to survive
dry periods, to the extent that it may appear dying, to be reborn stronger when
shown mercy from heaven. Faced with nostalgia or the growing influence of

32 toni maraini, 1967. “General considerations of popular art” in Revue Souffles ; 1990. Writings on: choice
of texts, morocco 1967-1989. Al Kallam.
33 For doctor sijelmassi, tattooing constitutes the primordial entity of moroccan artistic expression:
All the signs or symbols of rural art are taken from markings tattooed on the human body: ‘A memory
is tattooed in the body, the body is the crucible of this memory. the skin is the film which captured them’
(Ali Benmakhlouf) mohamed sijelmassi measured the importance of tattoos (notably those on the neck
or not highly visible down to the navel) during the multiple consultations which encouraged him to note
then study them (Archives du Fonds sijelmassi).
34 his two works, Moroccan painting. Paris, Arthaud, 1972, and The traditional arts of Morocco, paris,
Flammarion, 1974, represent his ‘ideal moroccan heritage’.
35 mohamed Khaïr-eddine, 1984. Legend and life of Agounchich, paris, le seuil.
74 A p ro t e c t i o n A e s t h e t i c : s A l i m A n A j i
G lossAry
Ar. Arabic Ber. Berber
agadir plur. igudar Ber. collective grain store in morocco.
ahwash Ber. dances sung in the territory of the tachelhit language.
azrem or izerman Ber. in Kabyl, relief ornamentation, rippled or broken line
of chevrons figuring the snake.
baraka Ar. Beneficial influence
hanbel Ber. weaving
hsed Ar. negative feeling of envy, jealousy
ighrem Ber. Generic term denoting the rural habitat of the Atlas or, depending
on the regions, the fortified grain store. in certain pre-saharan valleys, it is used
to denote the fortified castle (qsar Arabic).
ikufan Ber. large ornate jars in Kabylie.
jenn, plur. jnoun Ar. (djinn) benevolent spirit or invisible malicious spirit.
khâtem Ar. Arabic-Andalucian figure, star.
khalala Ar. clip, fibula, see Berber tikhellalin or tizerzay.
l’ayn Ar. look with malicious intent, evil eye.
lqimt Ber. From the Arabic, qima, ‘important thing’: bride’s dowry in the souss.
maalem, fem. maalma, plur. maalmine, maalmate Ar. contractor, tradesman, boss.
mraya Ar. signifies mirror, refers to the central disk used to push away the forces
of evil.
rruh Ar. Breath of life or vegetative soul (nefs).
tamesryt Ber. room for receiving visitors (dar diaf), guest house.
tighremt Ber. lord’s residence, fortified by four corner towers, citadel, castle, Kasbah.
tizerzay Ber. fibula; the tizerzay n’taouka (‘worm fibulas’) are the most famous.
tikhellalin Ber. fibula.
A p ro t e c t i o n A e s t h e t i c : s A l i m A n A j i 75
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