Safi pottery and the Art of Tagine making
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| Safi pottery and the art of tagine making |
The pottery sector represents the most important craft activity and constitutes a cultural and tourist heritage of the city of Safi. It employs nearly 2,000 people on a permanent basis and a large number of seasonal workers. The main pottery production sites are the Potters' Hill, the Chaâba Valley, the village of Sidi Abderrahmane, the commune of Saâdla, and the Marrakech route. In Safi, pottery is located mainly in two districts of the city (the Hill of potters and the Chaâba valley) and one in a village near the city of Safi (the village of Sidi Abderrahmane).
The hill of potters, it is linked historically with the art of ceramics it is one of the oldest districts of the city. More than 700 artisans work in 42 workshops equipped with 72 traditional ovens and 27 gas ovens. One of the most famous potters at the national and international level is Moulay Ahmed Serghini.
The Chaâba Valley, this area was created to house the potters whose numbers are increasing over the years. About 800 potters work in 75 workshops equipped with 80 traditional ovens.
Today, Safiote pottery has acquired an international reputation. Safi produces all kinds of lathe-shaped objects as well as old-fashioned tiles, which are in great demand in Morocco. Craftsmen united in a cooperative, created a learning center and opened an exhibition-sale gallery.
Favored by an abundant and cheap raw material, the city of Safi has naturally become the capital of Moroccan pottery. The famous hill of potters with its workshops is a living testimony. Everything in the city evokes or relates to ceramics.
The Village of Sidi Abderrahman on the road to Dar Sidi Aïssa, 77 potters operates individually in the workshop equipped with 30 traditional ovens and 14 gas ovens scattered around the village.
The Village of Saâdla, 155 potters operates in 30 workshops equipped with 44 traditional ovens.
The raw material is mainly made up of clay, water, chemicals, and wood. The latter comes mainly from the broom which is found in abundance in the province.
In addition, a program currently under study consists in grouping the potters of Chaâba in an artisanal area around sidi Ahderrahmane, next to the clay quarries. This area will be equipped with all the necessary infrastructure. Its provisional construction schedule is approximately 10 years. This operation will certainly contribute to the reduction of environmental nuisances caused by the activity.
Safi is renowned for its bluish earthenware inherited from the Fassi potters who settled there in the 19th century. In 1875, the urban pottery of Safi, served by a local clay of exceptional quality, took on a new face when a potter from Fez, Mohammed Langassi, set up a first earthenware workshop there.
Safi Clay:
Safi clay is very calcareous and rich in iron oxide. This particular texture gives metallic reflections to the pieces and led the potters of the region to use polychromy.Traditional architecture is not only made up of zellige, wood or plaster elements. Other materials are also worked, such as tadelakt, tiles and wrought iron:
The Tadelakt:
Tadelakt is a wall covering used most often in bathrooms. The hammam walls and ceilings are covered with it:The manufacturing process:
The Tadelakt is a mixture of clay sand and lime which is left to stand for several days, rarely more than a week, before being projected onto the wall like a float coating, we will have taken care to prepare a kind of yellow paste egg and black soap (1 kg of black soap and about 50 to 100 eggs depending on the richness of the mixture), then coat the wall with this mixture using a cloth to finally polish the surface with a simple smooth stone. This last operation also makes the wall more resistant.Tiles :
All the roofs of the royal palaces are covered with green glazed tiles. This color is favored by palaces, mosques and madrasahs, but is not reserved for them. However, it generally designates a particularly honorable house. The other tiles are natural earth color. When you get closer to the north, these tiles turn red ocher.The manufacturing process:
Like the zelliges, the tiles are made, enameled and fired according to the ancestral technique of the earth. The first technique consists in turning a bulged cylinder which, cut in half lengthwise, produces two tiles (technique of Safi). The second technique, more specific to Fez, uses a wooden template that delivers an earthen plate in the shape of an elongated trapezoid. This plate is placed on a semi-conical mold which transmits its shape to it.Dough :
The clay is brought from quarries near the production center, dried in the sun and then crushed into small fragments.- Preparation of the dough from clay and water.
- Long mixing of the material to allow air bubbles to escape.
- Draining for several days.
Mixing of the dough then formation of lumps, turning dependent on the quality and duration of the kneading.
Round :
The dough is then shaped on a lathe fixed in a pit.The axis is held vertically by a horizontal wooden arm, actuated by the foot of the ceramist who turns the girelle. The accessories, bowl and stick, are very simple
Decoration and enamel:
Once the shaping steps are finished, the piece is coated with white enamel. After drying for a few hours, the room is decorated with enamels.The oven :
There are two types of oven that are used in the region: traditional ovens and modern gas ovens.Traditional ovens are made up of two superimposed chambers, the lower chamber is the hearth in which the pieces are first fired. The second bedroom is for rooms covered with enamel.
Gas ovens are the ideal solution for cooking at high temperatures with great ease of loading.
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| Safi pottery and the art of tagine making |
The largest tagine of sardine dumplings in the world was presented on Saturday July 10, 1999 in Safi on Mohamed V Square, at the initiative of the Association of Economic Operators of the Capital of Abda.
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