The Liberty Cooperative from Tameslouht, Morocco

In their own words

The Liberty Cooperative is located in the town of Tameslouht, which is located about 20 kilometers outside of Marrakech. Tameslouht is greatly becoming known for its lively and diverse artisan craft scene. Tameslouht's history is long, as artisans here have traditionally made clothing for the Marrakech region for many decades. Today, the artisans of Tamelsouht make a diverse range of products that are primarily sold to middlemen the Marrakech medina. Many of the products that are sold in Marrakech are in fact made in Tameslouht.

In attempt to break out of their dependency on Marrakech resellers, artisans like Redwan, the founder of the Liberty Cooperative, have come together to ensure that they could generate the prices they need to support themselves and their business. Redwan specifically named the cooperative with the word liberty to reflect their independence as artisans. Today the cooperative is comprised of seven artisans, all of whom have their own small workshops. 10% of each sale goes back to support the cooperative.

7 Members

237 Pieces listed

The people behind every piece

Redwan Menafa

Born in 1985, Redwan has been a weaver since he was very young and learned how to weave from his father. After traveling to many different craft fairs and meeting with various artisans, he got the idea to form a cooperative so they could keep the full value for the work that they sell. In 2013, he finally got the approval for Cooperative Liberty. Redwan specializes in creating the designs for many of the cooperatives products and is also skilled in embroidery. Redwan is married and has two children.

Jamila

After completing high school, Jamila enrolled in a sewing school in Marrakech for two years. After working in the city of Marrakech for a little while, she decided that it would be better to return to Tameslouht to begin sewing. Given the proximity of her work shop to Redwan, she heard about him starting a cooperative and decided to join and she continues to work with Cooperative Liberty to this day. When she isn't working at the cooperative, she can be found teaching at a local association in Tameslouht.

Hassan Zabadi

Hassan was born the town of Tameslouht in 1968 and has lived in the town his entire life. He is married and has two children who are currently in school. Weaving runs in Hassan's talented family. His dad was an expert weaver and was widely known as one of the best weaving teachers in the Tamelslouht region. So it was no surprise that Hassan wanted to carry on the family tradition and continue weaving throughout his career.

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