Visiting the Mosaic Workshop in Fes in Colorful Morocco

Whether you are walking in the streets of Morocco, passing through every new or old city gate, wandering in various mosques or palaces, the most eye-catching decoration is the colorful mosaic decoration. Got it!

Fes is a famous handicraft and colorful city in Morocco. When in Fes, visiting a mosaic workshop is definitely a must?(*?︶?*). .:*

The workshop is not big, and there are various small fountains and wash basins decorated with mosaics in the small courtyard. Someone from the workshop specially introduced us, first showing us the clay and earthen kiln where they fired porcelain (to be honest, their porcelain base and kiln are no different from any other small place that produces porcelain - such as Chaozhou, China). ?----The family workshops and small kilns are much smaller than others, okay?) Of course, their "unique skill" is collage mosaic. So we immediately went to visit the room where the next process of porcelain making is.

? The fired porcelain tiles of various colors were sent here to be chiseled into various specific shapes by workers. Each square piece of porcelain tiles made crisp and clear jingles one after another. The sound turned into small porcelain pieces 1-2cm square. The large chisels and the small porcelain pieces create a very strong contrast. If it hadn't been for the accumulation of hard work, how could they have developed the ability to knock off as big a piece as they can with a chisel, so that it's round and not square? ! The little brother saw that I had been filming him at work, raised his head and smiled shyly.

When these small porcelain tiles accumulate a certain amount, they are sent to the collage workshop for the next process.

? This process of collage is quite a test of memory, okay! Because each small piece of porcelain is placed upside down on the ground for collage (the pile of yellow-brown on the left on the floor in the picture above is the porcelain pieces that are turned upside down and put together) and then poured with cement to fix them (above) The one with the rocks on the right side of the picture). If you don't know their color and shape as well as the pattern to be collaged, if you put one wrong tile, the entire mosaic board will be invalid.

In addition, we also visited another of their craft workshops, where they painted and painted white plates and cups, and then fired them again to fix the color. The workers hold the bottom of the plate with their left hand and rotate it with the movement of the pen tip. The right hand holding the pen and the wrist fly, and the complex patterns of colors appear on the plate. Although they draw very quickly, they don't draw a lot every day. According to reports, the workers are paid on a piece-rate basis, but they only draw four plates a day and then stop working. (I guess my eyes were dazzled or my hands were shaking when I drew the fifth one) (⊙o⊙)

? Finally, of course, I went to their showroom! The dazzling array of porcelain is really a feast for the eyes, and you have to marvel at the Moroccans' obsession and use of color and pattern decoration, which can definitely be described as "extreme".

Whether it is a dinner plate, a teapot, a condiment saucer, a cup, a mirror, a candlestick, an ashtray, or a tabletop hanging on the wall, all kinds of utensils here must be surrounded by colorful colors and lines. If any of them is... Without any pattern or color decoration, it is probably like being naked in public and "attracting attention" (ー_ー)!

? Even if the colors and patterns on the plate are extremely complicated, "persistent" Moroccans who are obsessed with decoration will still inlay metal lines with various patterns on the outside of the plate. I want to say have you gone crazy? ! ㄟ( ▔, ▔ )ㄏ

In fact, we have small appetizer plates like this (after discounting 60DH and then converting it into RMB, it costs nearly 30 yuan, which is a little expensive) and vegetable plates with various patterns. It is produced and exported in the Chaozhou area, the capital of porcelain, and I personally think the quality is better than that produced in Festive. Their value here may lie in the "handmade workshops". The production technology is still in a relatively rudimentary stage, so it takes a longer time to produce each product (it feels like the political economics of junior high school is used) ∑(￣□ ￣;)).

Although I am a bit accustomed to ordinary plates and bowls, the items in the above two sets of pictures almost made me chop my hands off (,,? . ?,,) and then I thought that the journey had just begun. , I had to drag the heavily protected porcelain all over Morocco for thousands of miles (under the premise that my luggage already weighed a certain amount), and my hand was saved in an instant?

In fact, I was very concerned about the local ashtrays. Still very interested (the pink one in the middle of the previous picture). The round shape itself is very cute, and its function is quite scientific in terms of design. It is divided into two parts, the upper part and the lower part. The upper part is made into a flat funnel shape. The flat mouth is easy to store. The design of the funnel makes it easy for the ash to slide down to the tank below. The jar below is really big and can accommodate a large amount of space. There is a protrusion in the middle that blocks the mouth of the funnel above, but it is not completely blocked. It allows the ash to fall but prevents the things placed on top from falling from the mouth of the funnel. However, it seems that you rarely see locals smoking, and if you do, they mostly smoke hookahs. You can see hookahs with various fruit flavors in some small shops. So I think their ashtrays are just for decoration!

Another thing that caught my eye was the candlesticks in the pictures above and below. They were very decorative. I stopped there for a long time and looked at them carefully. At first I thought they were toothpick holders or spice jars, but later Then I realized it was a candlestick. The store clerk came over and told me that it was an old item and rare, and wanted to persuade me to buy it. Well, I'm sorry, I've already treated this place as a museum. Thank you!

This huge ashtray is placed in the middle of the circular mosaic tabletop in the hall, with a diameter of 30-40cm. If it is not used for decoration, what else can it be used for?

Some people say that the ones above are wine bottles and flasks, but I don’t agree. Muslims are forbidden to drink alcohol, so they cannot (not understand, but are unwilling) make drinking vessels, even if they are used for decoration, so I think those are water bottles and kettles.

Candy (dried fruit) jars are also the most commonly used utensils for them. Moroccans are fond of sweetness, and the sugar content of local fruits is also quite high (the climate in some areas is similar to that of Xinjiang in my country). They make various dried fruits as snacks, and they really like to eat the dried figs and dates there.

Tagine is a unique Moroccan cooking utensil, consisting of a deep plate at the bottom and a conical lid on top. The deep plate is used to hold food, and the tapered lid is conducive to the return of water vapor, which can save water when cooking. It is the crystallization of the wisdom of living in the desert area. Moroccans mostly use pottery pots on a daily basis. The porcelain pots displayed in this store are probably sold to tourists for display (^)

Visiting the entire exhibition area is like visiting a museum. His eyes were filled with colors and lines. However, there is always a question in my mind: What is the reason that creates the Moroccans’ tireless pursuit and obsession with colors, lines, and various geometric shapes? Perhaps it was the harsh and boring desert environment that inspired them to imagine the colorful world, or perhaps it was the years of ethnic integration (in addition to the native Berbers, there were Arabs from the east and Europeans from the north) that allowed them to absorb all kinds of things. The ability to reprocess and recreate the essence of a culture... Maybe there are more reasons waiting for people to explore.