Costumes Berberes du Maroc. Decors traditionnels/Berber Costumes of Morocco

The Berber women from Morocco have received wide acclaim for their rugs. They also use their amazing skills to weave traditional costumes, whose ample shapes are reminiscent of the draped garments of Antiquity. Many garments, veils, and capes reflect the identity of the different groups living in the mountains and valleys. They represent a way of life that is disappearing fast, as contacts with the outside world render it obsolete. Some items of clothing are decorated with designs passed on from mother to daughter, however, tradition did not prevent weavers from expressing their own creativity as well. This book shows a wide variety of designs allowing the reader to discover masterpieces of weaving and embroidery, but also of decoration with henna, a technique unique to Morocco. This bilingual book in English and French is the first to offer a vast panorama of this exceptional heritage from the Mediterranean coast to the Sahara. Ethnologist, Marie-Rose Rabate, and Frieda Sorber, art historian and textile specialist, have between them researched Berber costume in and outside Morocco over the last forty years. As women in a female environment, their invaluable experience has allowed them to widen existing knowledge, to collect rare examples, to witness the changing state of textile crafts, and to pinpoint the recent apparition of imitations. In and outside Morocco many collectors have shared their collections for study, to help the authors define a Berber style of decoration. A wealth of objects have been chosen to illustrate the texts, showing a kaleidoscope of colors and designs, including many details. Rabate and Sorber present here an art that remained hidden for many years, and that almost disappeared before it could claim its place among the world's cultures.

English

2007

288 Pages

25 x 27,50 cm