{"id":587,"date":"2013-09-26T09:02:00","date_gmt":"2013-09-26T09:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maghrebi-voices.swarthmore.edu\/?p=587"},"modified":"2024-04-19T19:24:15","modified_gmt":"2024-04-19T19:24:15","slug":"zellij","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maghrebi-voices.swarthmore.edu\/?p=587","title":{"rendered":"Zellij"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s a little hard to believe that something like this:
\n\"fj4WAjGD-M5AtA37jkX3Y_VWdtNE1AgjMjoqiIwS4xw\"<\/a>starts out something like this:
\n\"SONY<\/a><\/p>\n

Or, to be more accurate, it starts as a bit of mud, which is shaped into a tile and glazed; those glazed tiles then have patterns sketched upon them and a maalem or master craftsman cuts the tiles precisely into tiny khatams, safts, and related shapes.\u00a0
\n\"SONY
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

The last day of the Art of Islamic Pattern study tour, we visit a zellij workshop. \u00a0The maalem or zellij master sits cross-legged on the floor all day, chipping the tiles into shape.
\n<\/a>\"SONY<\/a><\/p>\n

He set up a chair for us neophytes, though, insisting that it was too difficult for us even to attempt to chip a tile from a cross-legged position.\"SONY<\/a><\/p>\n

The chisel is heavier than you might think, and some coaching is in order:\"SONY<\/p>\n

It turns out that the crucial factor is the angle between the chisel, the tile, and the thin metal surface on which the tile rests.
\n\"SONY<\/a><\/p>\n

Adam, a sculptor, says that this is a little like splitting stone: get the angle right, and a single blow on a huge block of stone will split it down to the floor.<\/p>\n

Pages from a long-ago magazine article are posted on the walls of the workshop, showing various steps of the process:
\n\"SONY<\/a> \"SONY<\/a><\/p>\n

Once everyone who’s interested has had a chance to try cutting the zellij, we go downstairs to the room where the zellij are actually assembled.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, a frame is used…
\n\"SONY<\/a><\/p>\n

But clearly, some of the designs are created freehand:
\n\"SONY<\/a><\/p>\n

Notice that the patterns are constructed face down, with the colors obscured. \u00a0Imagine getting a color wrong in a split-second of distraction and discovering the mistake only at a much later moment of truth.<\/p>\n

James arrives with Zoe and Jeremy just as we are about to make our own little tiles, so I let the children take over my piece:
\n\"SONY<\/a><\/p>\n

Once the pieces are arranged in the appropriate order, a temporary wooden frame is placed around them to hold them close together. \u00a0Then some grouting powder is sprinkled over them…
\n\"SONY<\/a><\/p>\n

and water is flicked onto that grouting powder with a paintbrush. \u00a0What fun!
\n\"SONY<\/a><\/p>\n

Then comes the plaster, rapidly applied by one of the apprentices of the workshop:
\n\"SONY<\/a><\/p>\n

While the plaster is drying, Jeremy tries out other patterns as the maalem (master) rapidly creates a few additional shapes for other people’s patterns.
\n\"K5F-pqO1z8fiP1UgX3UXWM23BU61r77Dvhs-sKbrS3o,GepcE4rqp82pJzyVgNNZkGhv8wJrkKQWXfWB5h-i5Bs\"<\/p>\n

Finally, voila: the finished tile.
\n\"SONY
\n<\/a>
\nNow we just have to extend that pattern a hundred-fold or so to arrive at a small fountain design…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s a little hard to believe that something like this: starts out something like this: Or, to be more accurate, it starts as a bit of mud, which is shaped into a tile and glazed; those glazed tiles then have patterns sketched upon them and a maalem or master craftsman cuts the tiles precisely into … Continue reading Zellij<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[7,3],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s4JDdJ-zellij","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maghrebi-voices.swarthmore.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maghrebi-voices.swarthmore.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maghrebi-voices.swarthmore.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maghrebi-voices.swarthmore.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maghrebi-voices.swarthmore.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=587"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/maghrebi-voices.swarthmore.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2831,"href":"https:\/\/maghrebi-voices.swarthmore.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587\/revisions\/2831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maghrebi-voices.swarthmore.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maghrebi-voices.swarthmore.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maghrebi-voices.swarthmore.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}