Another video that was prepared for the Untangling Threads exhibit focusing on weaving in rural Morocco. Footage by Anna Beeke, edited by Alia Kate of Kantara Rugs

the sheeps wool shuffle : from raw wool to spun yarn

… sneak peek of a video installation I’m creating for our next exhibit of Untangling Threads: Women Artisans in Morocco’s Rug Weaving Industry

All of the weavers from this cooperative in the Middle Atlas of Morocco gather in the home of an artisan who has just given birth to a healthy baby boy. The mother and her newborn rest in the next room while the rest of the women share an afternoon snack of Moroccan mint tea, recently-pressed olive oil and freshly baked bread.

This photograph by Anna Beeke is part of Untangling Threads: Women Artisans in Morocco’s Rug Weaving Industry, a traveling exhibit that displays the documentary photographs of the life and lifestyle of women artisans beside handwoven Moroccan rugs woven by the same women. This exhibit has been shown in a wide variety of places, from New York galleries, college libraries, high schools, and street fairs and 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. As the curator of the exhibit, I am excited to grow the project through discovering new places to display Untangling Threads in the United States and in our sustained relationship with the artisans in Morocco.

A glance into rural Moroccan family life.

This photograph by Anna Beeke is part of Untangling Threads: Women Artisans in Morocco’s Rug Weaving Industry, a traveling exhibit that displays the documentary photographs of the life and lifestyle of women artisans beside handwoven Moroccan rugs woven by the same women. This exhibit has been shown in a wide variety of places, from New York galleries, college libraries, high schools, and street fairs and 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. As the curator of the exhibit, I am excited to grow the project through discovering new places to display Untangling Threads in the United States and in our sustained relationship with the artisans in Morocco.

Khalti Mimouna poses in her guest living room moments before she pushes the curtains open and invites several of the weavers into her home for an extravagant mid-day meal.

This photograph by Anna Beeke is part of Untangling Threads: Women Artisans in Morocco’s Rug Weaving Industry, a traveling exhibit that displays the documentary photographs of the life and lifestyle of women artisans beside handwoven Moroccan rugs woven by the same women. This exhibit has been shown in a wide variety of places, from New York galleries, college libraries, high schools, and street fairs and 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. As the curator of the exhibit, I am excited to grow the project through discovering new places to display Untangling Threads in the United States and in our sustained relationship with the artisans in Morocco.

Jamila and her son Adam pose inside their Taznacht home, which is also the headquarters of a weaving cooperative. Jamila spends most of her day in this room, or in the workshop around the corner.

This photograph by Anna Beeke is part of Untangling Threads: Women Artisans in Morocco’s Rug Weaving Industry, a traveling exhibit that displays the documentary photographs of the life and lifestyle of women artisans beside handwoven Moroccan rugs woven by the same women. This exhibit has been shown in a wide variety of places, from New York galleries, college libraries, high schools, and street fairs and 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. As the curator of the exhibit, I am excited to grow the project through discovering new places to display Untangling Threads in the United States and in our sustained relationship with the artisans in Morocco.

Locals spend the day at the banks of a river on the outskirts of Kelaa Mgouna washing their carpets and bedspreads.

This photograph by Anna Beeke is part of Untangling Threads: Women Artisans in Morocco’s Rug Weaving Industry, a traveling exhibit that displays the documentary photographs of the life and lifestyle of women artisans beside handwoven Moroccan rugs woven by the same women. This exhibit has been shown in a wide variety of places, from New York galleries, college libraries, high schools, and street fairs and 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. As the curator of the exhibit, I am excited to grow the project through discovering new places to display Untangling Threads in the United States and in our sustained relationship with the artisans in Morocco.

Mahajouba relaxes beside her home-made wooden loom in her living room. She is one of the best weavers in her weaving cooperative, but rarely makes the half hour trek to the village workshop because she prefers to weave at home and she must attend to household duties.

This photograph by Anna Beeke is part of Untangling Threads: Women Artisans in Morocco’s Rug Weaving Industry, a traveling exhibit that displays the documentary photographs of the life and lifestyle of women artisans beside handwoven Moroccan rugs woven by the same women. This exhibit has been shown in a wide variety of places, from New York galleries, college libraries, high schools, and street fairs and 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. As the curator of the exhibit, I am excited to grow the project through discovering new places to display Untangling Threads in the United States and in our sustained relationship with the artisans in Morocco.

Following a design in their heads and the skill of their fingers, Fadima and Jamila work side by side on a vertical loom in their Taznakht workshop.

This photograph by Anna Beeke is part of Untangling Threads: Women Artisans in Morocco’s Rug Weaving Industry, a traveling exhibit that displays the documentary photographs of the life and lifestyle of women artisans beside handwoven Moroccan rugs woven by the same women. This exhibit has been shown in a wide variety of places, from New York galleries, college libraries, high schools, and street fairs and 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. As the curator of the exhibit, I am excited to grow the project through discovering new places to display Untangling Threads in the United States and in our sustained relationship with the artisans in Morocco.

Majda plays with Fadma’s head scarf. Majda is from the northern Arabic-speaking part of Morocco and has come to spend the summer with her grandmother in Ait Hamza. Despite not being able to speak Fadma’s Amazigh language, called Tamazight, the two are inseparable.

This photograph by Anna Beeke is part of Untangling Threads: Women Artisans in Morocco’s Rug Weaving Industry, a traveling exhibit that displays the documentary photographs of the life and lifestyle of women artisans beside handwoven Moroccan rugs woven by the same women. This exhibit has been shown in a wide variety of places, from New York galleries, college libraries, high schools, and street fairs and 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. As the curator of the exhibit, I am excited to grow the project through discovering new places to display Untangling Threads in the United States and in our sustained relationship with the artisans in Morocco.