Here we look at some simple ways to add cosy vibes and a calming ambience to your home   

CREATE TEXTURED LAYERS WITH THROWS AND BLANKETS 

Just as we layer our clothes in the winter to be cosy, using layers at home makes a space feel warm and inviting.  Having a few extra blankets around the house in the colder months is practical and creates a feeling of cosiness adding texture, colour, and warmth.

LIGHT UP CANDLES

Candlelight instantly transforms the atmosphere of a room and brings a feeling of calm and warmth. Using a scented candle engages all your senses and is a great way to create comfort, calm and relieve stress.

LAY A DEEP PILE RUG 

There’s no better feeling when waking up than stepping onto a thick wool rug.  It’s a great way to add warmth to a room and what’s best it’s portable. Unlike carpet you can move it from one room to the next as your mood takes you or roll it up and store for later.   

PILE UP ON CUSHIONS

One of the simplest ways to transform any living space is with some thoughtfully chosen cushions. They’re a great inexpensive way to transform a room by adding colour, texture, and individuality.

ADD A POP OF COLOUR

Autumn’s all about warm colours. Tones of orange, brown and red bring an instant feel of autumn. Look around the room and figure out which of those colours you have the most of and introduce an area piece in the same tone.  This will tie the room together and make the space feel cohesive.

Explore our Autumn picks for a selection of cosy artisan made homewares to get you autumn ready! 

We care deeply about the planet and building a business that gives back to nature. That’s why we’re thrilled to be partnering with One Tree Planted to plant a tree for every order. Trees clean our air and water, create habitats for biodiversity, contribute to our health and wellbeing, and create jobs for social impact. We’re honoured to have reforestation through One Tree Planted as an integral part of our business model.

Community

Our commitment to creating a more sustainable future goes beyond our support for Moroccan artisans and their community. We believe we should also consider how we interact with the world around us. It’s important that we leave the earth better than we found it. Through the reforestation projects we support, forests are rebuilt after natural disasters and deforestation. This doesn't just benefit nature and the climate; it directly impacts the people living in the affected areas

Combating climate change

It may not feel as though one tree may make much of a difference, but it does! Through our collective efforts every single tree put together creates forests to benefit people, nature, and wildlife for years to come. Planting trees remains one of the best ways to reduce global carbon emissions. The average mature tree is capable of sequestering 48 lbs of carbon each year.

One Tree Planted is a non-profit charity dedicated to global reforestation. They plant trees to restore nature and biodiversity. They also raise awareness about the importance of trees, offer businesses like ours a simple sustainability solution, and motivate younger generations to do something positive for the environment.

Learn more about One Tree Planted and the valuable work they have been doing. Shop with Artisans du Maroc and help the environment!

As the majority of our collection is created by Berber artisans, we wanted to share some of the cultural significances often found on the finished pieces and in doing so provide an insight into a lesser-known community and providing a deeper understanding of the meaning behind their creations

A Love of Handcrafting Techniques

Berber ideology is made unique by the craftsmanship which is steeped into the culture. Authentic Berber crafts aren’t mass-produced but created as one-off pieces, usually for a specific purpose. The Handira blanket being an example of this is a wedding blanket woven to offer blessings, good luck, and protection to newlyweds. A true labour of love!

As ‘free people’ Berber communities are pretty much self-sufficient. Living in small villages in and around the Atlas Mountains. the men typically work either in farming or in other communal craft workshops (generally pottery or basket weaving) whilst the women work creating rugs and other textiles. The handcrafts they create are taken to weekly markets in the larger towns and cities where they are auctioned to market traders who go on to sell them in souks up and down Morocco providing an income to the villages which is often their main livelihood.

Behind the Symbolism

Berber crafts are covered in symbology of ‘Baraka’ – a divine blessing or religious power. The representation of ‘Baraka’ symbols is thought to ward off misfortune, heal and bring good luck. 

For centuries, art, symbolism, patterns, and colour have been used to express the ‘Baraka’ rituals and beliefs. For Berber artisans, crafting and handiwork is used as a form of artistic expression through which their storytelling is told and shared through decorative home décor.

Many of the Berber rugs and cushions you’ll find on our site have distinctive patterns and symbols that refer to the creation of family, fertility, love and supernatural powers. Quite often the symbols most commonly found are of:

• Barley:A rectangle filled with a chequered pattern of light and dark colours. This is common on rugs and symbolises the blessing of fertility.
• The Eye:Drawn in a concentric diamond pattern, it symbolises protection against the devil’s eye and keeps evil spirits away. 
• The Frog:Featuring an ornate diamond design, it symbolises fertility and magical rites - This also happens to be the symbol of our logo!
• The Spider: A diamond-shape with openings on the edges, represents the sun, patience, working life and harmony.

Colours are also used to reinforce symbolic designs and are chosen for their meaning in storytelling. For example, white symbolises peace and purity, while red indicates strength and protection. 

For centuries, authentic handmade Berber designs and décor were only found in Moroccan households, mosques and town buildings. Today, their culture is celebrated across the world. 

We’re proud to showcase our heritage and the beautiful crafts our beloved homeland of Morocco has to offer. We feel strongly about maintaining an ancient and unique art form and traditions and in doing so help provide Berber villages with an income to sustain growth and development. Find out how we support sustainability and trade practices with our Moroccan artisans here.

This is not only worrying on a personal level but as they look for alternative forms of income in other industries they leave behind generations and generations of tradition and skills that are not easily reproduced.

At Artisans du Maroc we are committed to supporting the community we work with in any way that we can. Through our sales we are helping sustain many artisans livelihoods but we don't stop there. We have been working with a number of different charitable organisations to help keep the skills, traditions and culture of Moroccan artisans alive. 

One of the organisations we support is the Marrakech Artisan Fund which was set up at the start of the pandemic in 2020 to help support Artisans hit badly by the crisis. Although there has been some government assistance, many artisans are struggling to meet their needs in terms of food, medicine and rent. Through their campaign, the Marrakech Artisan Fund have been able to give a selected and vetted number of artisans a minimum one-time cash gift of 100-250 dollars to help them through these tough times. They have also set up a sponsor an artisan scheme which we are proud contributors of.

To date they have raised a total of $79,925 of which $59,800 was distributed in direct cash subsidies to out of work artisans. The remaining $20,125 has been distributed as 375 food baskets.

Within the Draa valley in southern Morocco lies the village of Tamegroute from which this distinctive pottery takes its name. In Amazigh (the language of the indigenous Berbers) Tamegroute means ‘last place before the desert’ and was the last stop for the caravans who travelled across the desert on camels. 

The founders wanted to raise the status of the village into that of a city so assembled craftsman who specialised in pottery to rival the imperial city of Fes considered the pottery capital of morocco (alongside Safi). Still a village today, Tamegroute is the home to seven Atelier families who each own one oven and their own atelier. Creating pottery in a signature green shade the craftsmanship and skill is beautifully authentic to the region.

Local and sustainable materials

The unique crafting process has been passed down from generation to generation and the same tools and techniques are still used today as they had been in the 11th century.  It starts with the collection of the clay which is dug from the riverbed of the Draa valley. Once transported back to the village the clay is moulded and shaped into its final form. The pottery is left out to dry in the Moroccan sun before being glazed with manganese, silicon and copper that creates the superb green glaze for which Tamegroute is renowned.

The pottery is then baked in one of the 7 stoves in the village with Palm tree branches and sometimes left-over eucalyptus and tamarisk chips from local carpenters used as fuel.

Perfectly imperfect

Every single piece is crafted by hand from natural materials unique to the region and bares the hallmarks of its maker. The variation of colour, shape and size make every piece truly unique embracing the perfectly created imperfections that make the pottery so beautiful.

We’re excited to share our collection of magnificent green pottery we love so much, sourced from this small corner of Morocco.  Explore our collection of truly original and unique Tamegroute pottery.

2020 certainly has been an interesting year for most of us. For me, the realisation of how heavily dependent on consuming product I was, was a massive wake up call. As difficult as it might have been at times, the lockdowns & shop closures really did give us all a chance to hit pause and take a deeper think, not only about what we really need but where is it all coming from. 

So often we wait on packages to arrive for items we have ordered, giving little thought on its origins, its story, the stages it took to get to us, be it sourcing the raw material to creation, packaging & shipment. Little thought goes into the sustainability of the item, but I found myself asking was it ethically sourced? How did the labourers create such an amazing work of art? Is this a family tradition? And most importantly, am I harming the world every time I hit “buy?"

After speaking to many artisans and visiting countless souqs in my lifetime, I grew to see the fundamental teachings in Moroccan parenting and that is “no waste left behind!" This applies in many aspects of Moroccan life and culture, be it from food to clothing & interior where we witness the creation of beautiful one-off items made from what would have been seen as scraps of wool or recycled glass.

I guess what’s important from time to time is take a moment to stop, pause, and reflect. Will the universe really be able to sustain all that we throw at it? Will there be a need for talent and craftsmanship as we grow, evolve and create smarter machines to do what humans once did? 

There is a fine line between preserving natural materials and the environment for the future, whilst ensuring generational traditional craftsmanship isn't lost and forgotten. How do you make decision that stay true to what you believe? Having met a myriad of highly skilled craftsmen who hung up their tools for a more “stable” job in the city, really did get me thinking. I grew up wishing I had skills and talent of the skilled artisans who created beautiful pieces of history however, we'd left them behind because we forgot to really appreciate their craft.

This is why we set up Artisans Du Maroc, to be ethically sourced, sustainable & to do our part in bringing these special pieces of craftmanship to your home.  

Ethically Sourced | Sustainable | Uniquely Crafted