Crafts

Tataouine’s territory is rich in craft traditions, today threatened by new ways of life and by climate change. Its landscape is a lived landscape, as culture has here adapted to the unique features of the land. The geology of the areas has offered the people of Tataouine many natural materials to create their homes and material cultures for centuries. Stone cutting is a traditional activity that has almost disappeared from the region, and pottery making is also still present. Using locally sourced clay, artisans have long produced high-quality pottery for everyday household use—a tradition that still continues today. Stone cutting is another central craft, enabling the construction of affordable dwellings that combine excavated caves with built structures. Building within the rock helps maintain a stable temperature throughout both summer and winter.

Crafts

The landscape has offered a number of raw materials from plants and animals for a multitude of crafts. Today few local women and men still collect wild plants to produce objects they use in their life or as decorations. The knowledge to turn such materials into useful objects is shared from one generation to another and is called ‘Intangible Heritage’. People use a variety of plants to craft baskets, hats, ropes, and mats. In Tlalet, a group of women has revived the craft of harvesting reeds and weaving into traditional objects that are environmentally friendly and also very useful such as bags, baskets, and mats of various sizes. Women can harvest various types of reeds and also dye them to create different designs. Please visit our shop at the Museum or online if you are interested to buy their products or visiting their workshop.

Crafts

Women here know when during the year it is possible to harvest the reeds and how much to take from the river. They also know where in the rivers and bodies of water they can harvest the plants so that they are more ‘flexible’. Did you know that the craftswomen harvesting reeds always harvest the plants that have grown with their roots in water and leave those where the roots are sometimes out of water alone? They say the reeds that grow in water are better for weaving! Baskets are also made of grasses and other types of plants that grow in the country away from water and along the escarpments of Tataouine mountains. This also includes palm leaves. The plants' stems or palm leaves are turned into ropes or woven into strong baskets, plates, and hats. You can see craftspeople producing objects of this kind sometimes at the base of Chenini Village or in the City Centre of Tataouine at the market or at the craft Village.

Basket weaver Tataouine
Mat weaving workshop
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