Amazigh Arts in Morocco: Women Shaping Berber Identity

by Cynthia Becker

In southeastern Morocco, around the oasis of Tafilalet, the Ait Khabbash people weave brightly colored carpets, embroider indigo head coverings, paint their faces with saffron, and wear ornate jewelry. Their extraordinarily detailed arts are rich in cultural symbolism; they are always breathtakingly beautiful—and they are typically made by women. Like other Amazigh (Berber) groups (but in contrast to the Arab societies of North Africa), the Ait Khabbash have entrusted their artistic responsibilities to women. Cynthia Becker spent years in Morocco living among these women and, through family connections and female fellowship, achieved unprecedented access to the artistic rituals of the Ait Khabbash. The result is more than a stunning examination of the arts themselves, it is also an illumination of women's roles in Islamic North Africa and the many ways in which women negotiate complex social and religious issues. One of the reasons Amazigh women are artists is that the arts are expressions of ethnic identity, and it follows that the guardians of Amazigh identity ought to be those who literally ensure its continuation from generation to generation, the Amazigh women. Not surprisingly, the arts are visual expressions of womanhood, and fertility symbols are prevalent. Controlling the visual symbols of Amazigh identity has given these women power and prestige. Their clothing, tattoos, and jewelry are public identity statements; such public artistic expressions contrast with the stereotype that women in the Islamic world are secluded and veiled. But their role as public identity symbols can also be restrictive, and history (French colonialism, the subsequent rise of an Arab-dominated government in Morocco, and the recent emergence of a transnational Berber movement) has forced Ait Khabbash women to adapt their arts as their people adapt to the contemporary world. By framing Amazigh arts with historical and cultural context, Cynthia Becker allows the reader to see the full measure of these fascinating artworks.

Genres: Nonfiction, Morocco

239 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2006

Reviews

[Sivananthi T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating insight into the lives of Amazigh women, and how culture and identity are maintained by women. The Amazigh women weave rugs, carpets, cloths and carry their identity on their bodies. They sing songs and poems which remind the community of their ethos and carry the culture throughout the generation. This bestows power to the women, and yet the same continues tobind them tightly to social roles and norms. Certain traditions such as tattoos on the body, and the singing of the ahidous becomes limited in more rigid observance of Islam.

[Rania Attafi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such an insightful read. highly recommend it.

Check out my review at https://medium.com/@rania.attafi/book...

[Outmane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Morocco has the largest proportion of Berbers in its territory and women rather than men are the artists in Berber societies. Women serve as a public symbols of ethnic identity by wearing hand-made garments adorned with their culture-specific accessories . In the thirteenth century, Berbers ( with the exception of a handful groups) started adopting Islam as their religion and Arabic as their second language as a result of their promiscuity with the Arabs coming from the middle east. There are 3 distinct Berber groups in Morocco, each with its own local language: Tarifit in the Rif Mountains of northern Morocco, Tamazight in the Middle Atlas Mountains and southeastern desert oasis, and Tashelhit in the Sus Valley, High Atlas Mountains, and Anti-Atlas Mountains.

Berber is a pejorative term derived from the Latin word barbarus or ‘‘barbarian", so they like to refer themselves by the name of their particular group or The Amazigh. French anthropologists who were sent to carry out researches about cultural syndromes present within North Africans, concluded that the Amazigh share ancient Roman and Christian values, thereby making an apology for colonialism

The book focuses on the Ait Khabbash, a group that traces its origins to Ait Atta and is part of the largest Amazigh group in southern Morocco. Until recently, sedentary Arab farmers inhabited the Tafilalet oasis, while Ait Khabbash populated the surrounding desert landscape. Arabs had to pay the Ait Kabbash a tribute in exchange of a non-invasion and a protection from outsiders. In the late nineteenth century three Arab villages on the outskirts of the oasis, under threat of invasion from another Amazigh group, invited the Ait Khabbash to live with them. Ait Khabbash used to be nomads who raided nearby villages for wheat and grains until 1934 when the French occupied their territory. Only 10% of them remained nomads, the rest settled in mud-brick villages creating desert towns such as Hafira, Tabat el Khir, Merzouga, Khamlia,Taouz, and Haselbait. They also took part in in the trans-Saharan slave trade until its prohibition in the 1930s

The Ismkhan are the descendants of those enslaved by Ait Khabbash. While most of them ignore their ethnic identity, they all come from Sudanese backgrounds and trace their origins to Bilal, a manumitted slave by the Prophet Muhammad’s uncle and who was the first Muslim to perform the Muslim call prayer. They have a dark complexion and are known to have supernatural healing powers

Healing ceremony
Ismkhan men travel from village to village playing music and collecting food, grain, tea, and sugar. Ateach house a generous offering is given in exchange for being blessed by the
"baraka" (benediction) of the Ismkhan. To expell the devils from the sick's body, the Ismkhan eat a smidgen of salt to purify their bodies and enhance their healing abilities and those who are sick are placed under a white turban during the process.

Imskhan have close relationships with other good spirits called "mlouk" that are encouraged to enter people’s bodies, allowing the possessed person to placate the spirit by performing a dance(called hadra, meaning ‘‘trance’’) to a particular rhythm, wearing colors that the malk prefers, burning certain types of perfumed incense, and consuming particular types of foods (..) When a person hears a particular rhythm played on the drums and metal cymbals, that individual’s malk possesses his or her body, causing the person to perform the ḥadra. This continues until the malk has been satisfied, abruptly leaving the body and causing the person to fall to the ground.

Arts/Women

Women dominate the Arts sphere in the Ait Kabbash. Red, green, yellow, black, and white are the most used colors in Amazigh textiles. The colors proclivity is inspired by rainbow (valued since rare in that region) and by familiar things in that environment ( Henna= green, Dates= from green to yellow and then red and an almost black dark brown) and Ait Kabbash women use wool to weave blankets, carpets, bags using motifs derived from the triangle (such as the zigzag and diamond) and those who make 40 carpets during their lifetime are guaranteed heaven after they die. Wool is so sacred that it could be used to resolve disputes between two people: If two men fight in public, a bystander may remove his white wool cape and place it in front of them, signaling them to resolve their contention.

Bride of the Rain is a ceremony that takes place once or twice a year, asking God to send rain. Women dress up a lady of their own to look like a bride, then, accompanied by their children, go from house to house collecting wheat, tea, and sugar. After that they turn the 'bride' upside down and put her head-first into the riverbed

Women leave a candle beside a newborn baby to keep the jnoun (spirits) at bay because they are more active and dynamic in the absence of light. The child’s body is rubbed with dry henna, which is believed to protect and strengthen the skin and a knife may be placed under their pillow to ward off the jnoun . Monthers contrive necklaces for their sons in which is placed a small knife pendant made of silver or copper to link the boys to the history of of Ait Khabbash men, who were involved in raids, slave trade, and the military defense of the group

Most Amazigh women were tattooing themselves with charcoal before abandoning the practice in 1970 due to the exposure to Islam and Arab culture that prohibits such traditions. Today it is very rare for a young Ait Khabbash girl to be tattooed, and many older women try to use natural herbs and chemicals to remove their tattoos, without success. According to the tradition, the tattoo purifies the body by meddling up with the blood and filtering out waste and toxins

Ahidous is an important art form of the Ait Khabbash. It is a collective performance played on the afternoon of the first wedding day that incorporates oral poetry. Unlike the Arabs who hire a team of drummers and musicians to play at weddings, any member of the Ait Khabbash can participate in Ahidous. Ait Khabbash is the only Ait Atta group in which women's faces are covered during Ahidous, albeit their identity is known. Single girls who take part in the performance increase their chances of getting married and are careful not to move their bodies too much lest they provoke sexual lust. Songs are passed orally from generation to generation. Some of the words used in the songs obsolete, their exact meanings have been lost, which gives the songs an almost sacrosanct status

Wedding, first day
Women unfold an infrequently used nomadic tent made by earlier women to serve as a temporary home for the bride. A group of stout and trust-worthy men are sent by the groom's family to bring the would-be wife and her family by car. They stop some kilometers away from the destination to maintain the tradition of the past, where the travel was done by camels or mules. The bride mounts a horse close to a small boy behind her who must be named Muhammed in the hope that she will have many sons. When the bride arrives at the groom’s home, she and her female family members spend the entire three-day wedding ceremony in the tent. The dressing of the bride is done by a relative or close friend who has a full-fledged cultural knowledge. Thicker hair is linked to fertility and the bride is expected to be virgin. The bride wears the "aâbroq" which is a headdress that covers her face until the third day of the wedding, diminishing the bride’s individuality and transforming her instead into a symbol of her group. Since the bride is being scrutinized all day long, the aâbroq helps shield her from the sights of others, their envy and evil eye but she can see her surroundings through small holes in the aâbroq. After nightfall, usually around nine or ten o’clock, the bride is chaperoned to the small tent or a distant house where the groom has remained since the previous day and where the marriage will be consummated.

Wedding, second day
The bride's virginity is proved, the 2nd day is a festive one. The bride wears the same gown stained by the hymeneal blood to prove that she was virgin. Animals sacrificed, hymns sung

Wedding, third and last day
The bride’s face is painted with orange saffron and a black pigment called "ḥargus" and her aâbroq is lifted; her face is finally revealed. In some Ait Khabbash areas the bride’s face is revealed for both men and women to see; in others, she wears a thin white cloth to cover her face so that unrelated men cannot see her

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a really interesting cultural read, but it felt like a good 1/2 of the book was less about the art and more about women in Amazigh women. I think it's worth a read. Definitely a bit more of an academic read vs a fluffy read, but worth the time. Just know only the first and last chapter are very art based and a good chunk surrounds wedding ceremonies

[Manhattan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reads like a thorough dissertation. I really enjoyed the author's research and perspective on so many hidden corners of Moroccan culture. Her writing is not poetic, enthralling, or personal, but it is easy to read, concise, and informative, which fits the subject well.