Berber Symbols and their Meaning
Long overlooked, perhaps even neglected, Berber rugs have of late become a subject of intense scholarship.
A name that stands out in the context of these studies is that of the Swiss scholar, Bruno Barbatti.
His seminal work Berber Carpets of Morocco: The Symbols: Origin and Meaning is a result of years of his fieldwork in the Atlas Mountains and the Saharan side of the Atlas Chain in Morocco.
Barbatti’s scholarly focus was the language of symbols, the enigmatic signs that appear in Berber textiles.
The repeated motifs, believed to date to Neolithic or perhaps even Paleolithic era of human development, suggest clearly the presence of an ancient, complex system of meaningful symbols.
Barbatti’s scrupulous semiotic approach opened a gate to a world of magic, and suddenly, the decorative function of primitive floor coverings acquired another dimension.
The Berber rug is a protector, a vessel of hope, a conveyor of wishful thinking, and a repository of pain and fear.
The symbols observed and analysed by Barbatti are rooted in the ancient cult of fertility; they represent, for the most sexual organs, and if presented out of their anthropological context, they may prove obscene.
Relatively explicit, if paid close attention to, vulva and phallus images may not necessarily appeal to Western consumers, least of all to those in search of but attractive home décor utilitarian objects.
Scholars however view this complex system of fertility symbols as erotic mysticism which is devoid of sexual connotations.
A Berber carpet possess power; it is not just but an attractive a floor covering.
This power is endowed to it by the weaver, and the loom is the symbolic door to an outer reality.
In the instance of this small Berber work by an anonymous Amazigh woman from an unidentified tribe below expresses her hope for a ‘healthy’ childbirth.
It speaks of her fear of pain and preoccupation. It is a supplication, a plea for assistance projected clearly in an unusually realistic drawing of hands, presumably those of midwives but perhaps metaphorically those of guardian spirits.
The central image in the small rug in question is the lozenge and within it, a small seemingly floral element.
The lozenge, a basic geometric form that frequently appears in Berber carpets (vertically and horizontally in kilims) represents female sexual and childbirth organs:
The motif of hands, the most realistic element in the rug, confirms explicitly what may otherwise be viewed as Barbatti’s theory, his suppositions, and not the actual language of symbols.
This small rug may in fact serve as evidence of the secret universe of the Berber women and their very intimate relationship with the loom.
Piotr Wesolowski
The motif of hands, the most realistic element in the rug, confirms explicitly what may otherwise be viewed as Barbatti’s theory, his suppositions, and not the actual language of symbols.
This small rug may in fact serve as evidence of the secret universe of the Berber women and their very intimate relationship with the loom.
Piotr Wesolowski
This is a Rugs News and Design Publication August 2023
Quotations from: Bruno Barbatti Berber Carpets of Morocco: The Symbols: Origin and Meaning
