In Morocco, where men are responsible for most of their country’s artisanal production, women have maintained the age-old craft of indigenous weaving. Until recently these rural Moroccan women have remained all but invisible behind the warp threads of their looms, single-handedly passing down the weaving tradition from grandmothers, to mothers, to daughters. In this way designs, colors, and patterns are guarded and preserved like family heirlooms, within each family, each town, and each region.

   This project, Untangling Threads: Women Artisans in Morocco’s Rug Weaving Industry, offers the viewer a glimpse into rural Moroccan life as it documents the life, culture, and craft of female weavers, while specifically focusing on artisans from rural weaving communities in the Middle and High Atlas mountains.

   In the photographs you see confident Amazigh Moroccan women who defy the stereotypes painted by the Western media. In the rugs you discover the dexterity of the weavers’ fingers, the boundaries of their imagination, and the antiquity of their craft. With this Untangling Threads reveals the faces and the hands behind the handicraft of weaving in Morocco.

Read more about the Birth of Untangling Threads.

Untangling Threads

women artisans in morocco’s rug weaving industry