Marrakesh Express
Women Weavers OnLine
Ben Smim
This is Zahra Aarab, whose family works as shepherds. Most of the year they are out with the herds of sheep in a low black tent. When it starts to rain, they move to a plastic tent sheltered in the trees. If you click here, you can see that tent in November, with the laundry out to dry and the local transportation parked in front. When it gets really cold, the family moves back to Ben Smim (this photo is about 4 miles away) with their animals and feed them at home instead of taking them out to graze. Zahra has four children ranging from 14 to 3; you see the smallest son here. She has two boys and two girls. The oldest is a son who helps herd sheep, and the next a daughter of 12 who helps with household chores - she had made dinner the day we visited. The only child in school is a daughter in second grade who stays with a family in a nearby town. When the family is herding, the lack of a nearby school means the children can't study. In fact, there is a campaign to encourage families to enroll girls in school, and in some places they are given flour and oil if they do so. It's possible that may have encouraged this family.
This is another version of the waterproof winter tent. The pipe on the right is for a wood-burning stove, and if you click on the photo you can see some of the wood they have collected to burn. They carry water from a nearby spring for themselves and the animals.
Here is the reason for Zahra and her family moving, and the basis for the textiles you see here. If you click on the photo, in the distance you can see the peaked red roofs of the town of Ifrane.
Piece 3.13075 is a large blanket in natural off-white wool with stripes in cotton and herir, which is probably rayon. You can see the details better (including Habiba's elegant jellaba fabric and trim] by clicking on the photo, and you can see the whole piece here. This would make a lovely blanket, or even heavy drapes if you had a small area. The size is 5'5" x 10' and the price is $215.
Piece 2.12563 is a jellaba, a hooded garment worn by both men and women in Morocco. This is a man's jellaba, woven of natural brown wool. Women's are usually in synthetic fabrics. This is an older piece, very finely woven, and the design is typical of the area. You can see both the fine weaving and the variation in browns on the close-up. The length from the back of the neck to the ground it 52" and the shoulders are 40" (they are cut loosely) and the hips 54". The price is $225.
Piece 2.12568 is a detail of another square pillow. Click here to see the full pillow, and here to see the mostly-plain back. The size is about 13" x 15" and the price is $41.
