The Middle Atlas region of Morocco curves from the coastal foothills east of Casablanca past Khenifra and north to the Mount Zerhoun area above Fes. It consists of rugged mountains and fertile valleys which are well suited to raising sheep for the wool used in the flat woven carpets with their intricate patterns.
The primary format in the flatweaves involves panels composed of one wide and two narrow bands with geometric designs separated by areas of plainweave. These days, most kilims have white cotton for warps because of its strength plus it keeps its shape and enhances the design elements.
The difference between a kilim area rug and a carpet is that a kilim design is made by interweaving the variously colored wefts and warps, creating what is known as flatweave. In a carpet, short strands of different color, usually of wool, are knotted onto the warps and held together by pressing these separately knotted strands. The excessive length of the knotted materials are then shorn off to create a level surface.
There are no precise statistics of how many women weavers there are in Morocco but it is estimated that still to this day 50% of women living in rural areas have a loom in their kitchen, sheep in their backyard and recently dyed wool hanging from their cloth-lines. Traditionally, before girls reach the age where they can start weaving, they help out cleaning and carding the wool and apprentice from the older women in the families. The first piece of finished rug is most often their dowry piece. From that point on the young women continue weaving until years later they become master weavers.
Kilim rugs are not just floor coverings. Some become wall hangings, some are bench or divan coverings and others are made into individual kilim pillow covers.
World Travel Art works directly with Berber women and provides access to markets which empowers them to define their place within the Moroccan carpet trade and helps to carry on a tradition that spans the ages.
