moroccan Berber carpet

Antique Berber and Moroccan carpets and textiles have become increasingly rare over the past twenty years.

Berber carpets are a modern style of carpet, distinguished by a loop pile construction type, and usually contain small flecks of dark color on lighter shades of background colors. They are typically in a plain color mix with no pattern, and are relatively cheap and durable, so popular for areas with relatively heavy use such as offices. Berber carpets are also the traditional hand-woven carpets of the Berber people of North Africa, which use a distinct knot that gives a similar appearance to a modern Berber carpet, but are brightly colored with designs that are different from other oriental rugs

Traditional Berber carpet

Handmade / homemade Berber carpets are still an active industry in many rural areas of Morocco and other Berber countries. Many Berber families gain their daily bread from manufacturing carpets manually and selling them in local markets or even to art merchants and tourists. Traditional Berber carpet is totally different from the modern mass produced berber carpets usually known in the West. They are much more sophisticated and are made of natural materials.

Tribal customs, though disappearing, are kept alive and are still reflected in the brilliant and innovative traditional arts of dyeing and weaving in rural Morocco.