May 14, 2021
Design Spotlight: Zahra of Association Afous Gafous
Association Afous Gafous weaves uniquely beautiful rugs. Their rugs are always handmade, and almost always dyed with natural dyes. The group is one of the most active groups on Anou, working hard to try and develop new designs and ideas to evolve their craft.
One of the Afous Gafous’ rising stars in design, Zahra Amzil, was watching a traditional Amazigh film where the protagonist tries to set up a cooperative and visits many shops in their pursuit.
Inspired by all the rugs shown, Zahra came up with an idea : mixing in designs from the film with inspiration of her own and a new technique (Zanafi style) she learned from a recent custom order. She immediately began to sketch the idea out on paper:
Zahra's initial sketch on paper
She took the initial design and worked the Anou’s artisan mentors to figure out sizing and colors.
She decided on using leftover yarns first to try out the idea. She ended up going with grey yarn for the design and a naturally dyed brown from onion shell for the base.
With the specifics now figured out, she immediately got to work and made this first prototype at home:
Zahra's getting to work on her prototype
A couple of weeks later, she finally finished the rug and posted the finished rug on Anou:
When this rug sells, Zahra plans to use the money to buy all her children school supplies.
More photos of Zahra's new creation.
Zahra is already thinking about making a variation of this rug using new colors. Encouraged by her first creative experience, she is already envisioning new designs which we are sure will make for beautiful rugs.
Congrats Zahra on your beautiful new design ! We can't wait to see more from you.
Explore all creations from Association Afous Gafous in Ouarzazate, Morocco.
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The Anou Artisans
