L\u2019art des femmes berb\u00e8res est le plus ancien d\u2019Afrique du Nord. Il remonte \u00e0 l\u2019Antiquit\u00e9. Cet art a surv\u00e9cu face \u00e0 de puissantes civilisations conqu\u00e9rantes, et il est toujours vivant. Il a fascin\u00e9 et inspir\u00e9 des \u00e9rudits et des gens ordinaires, mais c\u2019est seulement \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9poque postcoloniale que des lectures s\u00e9rieuses de ces dessins ont commenc\u00e9 \u00e0 se faire jour. Interpr\u00e9t\u00e9 comme un puissant marqueur culturel, un marqueur identitaire, et comme expression f\u00e9minine, cet art a des affinit\u00e9s avec l\u2019art africain mainstream. Soutenir que l\u2019art des femmes berb\u00e8res est peut-\u00eatre le seul lien significatif subsistant entre l\u2019Afrique du Nord et le reste du continent est une revendication f\u00e9ministe. En plus de fournir une lecture de l\u2019histoire nord-africaine, il fait ressortir comment l\u2019expression artistique des femmes berb\u00e8res \u00e9claire certains aspects de la mani\u00e8re dont les communaut\u00e9s vivent et interagissent dans cette histoire. Elle met \u00e9galement en lumi\u00e8re le lien entre cette expression artistique et la codification et la stabilisation de la langue berb\u00e8re. Ce dernier point m\u00e8ne la revendication f\u00e9ministe \u00e0 un degr\u00e9 sup\u00e9rieur dans lequel on pr\u00e9sume que l\u2019art f\u00e9minin produit un savoir linguistique, un th\u00e8me jusqu\u2019ici inexploit\u00e9. De plus, en se focalisant sur l\u2019art des femmes, cet essai adopte, pour aborder l\u2019histoire sociale et la langue berb\u00e8re, un type particulier de m\u00e9thodologie f\u00e9ministe dans lequel les sources historiques sont utilis\u00e9es pour produire de la connaissance et non pas simplement pour honorer le pass\u00e9. <\/p>\n\n
Some of the carpet designs that women imagined and created over the centuries have been replicated in body adornments, such as henna, tattoos, and in clothing. The designs have fascinated and inspired scholars and ordinary people, but it is only in the postcolonial era that serious readings of these designs have started to become prominent. The designs have been read as cultural markers, as identity markers, and as feminine art. Illuminating as they are, these readings tend to consider the designs as legacies of feminine creativity that need to be preserved (for scholarship on cultural markers, see Boely 2000; Saulniers 2000; Samama 1996 and 2000; and Chafik 2005. For identity markers, see Ben Miled 1998; Ennaji 2006; and Chtatou 2020. For feminine art, see Jereb 1990; Mernissi 2004; and Becker 2006). In this paper, I build on these readings to present the designs as a historical archive that continues to grow. <\/p>\n\n
Among the designs associated with women\u2019s spirituality and beliefs, the sun, the stars, the moon, and the sky loom large are related to the nature of ancient Berber religion (Herodotus [Book 4]; Ibn Khaldun Trans. by Rosenthal 1958; El Bekri 1857; Mercier 1901; Doutt\u00e9 1909; Basset 1910; and Ouachi 1985). According to the French Orientalist and linguist Ren\u00e9 Basset (1910), ancient Berbers considered the sky, the mountains, and the rivers as typical loci of divinity. The sky included the sun, the moon, and the stars, the mountains included the rocks and the caves, and the rivers included surfaces with water such as the sea and ocean. They saw the Atlas Mountains as \u201ctouching the sky\u201d and overlooking the Atlantic Ocean which derives its name from the word \u2018Atlas\u2019. <\/p>\n\n
The presence of these sites of divinity in weaving is an expression of the beliefs of these women and their creation of a unique cosmology that has trickled down to their families and communities, and, in the absence of documentation on Berber religions, the designs may well be the only sources to help scholars understand these expressions of human creativity and their interactions with religion and spirituality. Of particular interest here is the recurrence of triangles, horizontal lines, and circles grouped together to represent Tanit, with the circle in the upper position (head), the triangle under it (body), and a horizontal line between the two (arms). Tanit was a Berber goddess of water (rain, fertility) in ancient North Africa (Ben Miled 1998). She was the main deity of Carthage (today\u2019s Tunisia), from which her cult spread to the Mediterranean region. Tanit was also the lunar goddess and the symbol of war. Tanit has been represented in different forms, including in tajin, the traditional Berber cooking utensil, but the recurrence of the circle, horizontal line, and triangle remains striking. <\/p>\n\n
Significantly, the presence of the goddess Tanit in carpet designs demonstrates the importance of sexuality, procreation, and fertility in ancient Berber women\u2019s cosmology. The meanings of these designs are immortalized in the ritual of Taghunja (or tasliyt n unzar\u2014the rainbow), one of the most significant rituals in Berber communities in Morocco and across the region (Ben Miled 1998). A physical reflection of Tanit, Taghunja (a big doll with a circular head, vertical body, and horizontal arms), is held by a procession of children chanting and imploring for the coming of rain. Like the carpet designs, the ritual of Taghunja, which is still alive, is a powerful archive and a source of information on Berber women\u2019s cosmology prior to the advent of monotheistic religions. In addition to serving as a doorway to Berber women\u2019s spirituality, the carpet designs also serve as a doorway to understanding women\u2019s natural environment and daily chores, as attested in the frequency of beetles, snakes, and scorpions, as well as rivers and flowers. Beetles, snakes, and scorpions denote a rural and hot environment that is matched by a more temperate environment in which rivers are full and flowers blooming. The aesthetics that the latter design captures and the contrast between the hot and cooler environments may be indicative of the changing cycle of seasons, itself linked to the harvest cycle, which is central to Berber life and cosmology. <\/p>\n\n
D\u2019autres dessins montrent des tajines (ustensiles de cuisson marocains), des th\u00e9i\u00e8res et des cuill\u00e8res et servent, de ce fait, de point d\u2019entr\u00e9e \u00e0 l\u2019univers des t\u00e2ches quotidiennes f\u00e9minines. Il est important d\u2019ajouter ici qu\u2019au-del\u00e0 de leur usage pour la subsistance quotidienne, ces ustensiles symbolisent \u00e9galement l\u2019hospitalit\u00e9 berb\u00e8re et la fiert\u00e9 de la communaut\u00e9. Le tajin en particulier relie les t\u00e2ches quotidiennes f\u00e9minines \u00e0 leur divinit\u00e9, un lien qui est aussi attest\u00e9 dans l\u2019analyse que fait Margaret Raush (2004) de la po\u00e9sie des femmes berb\u00e8res. Ce lien est caract\u00e9ristique du go\u00fbt de ces femmes pour le symbolisme en tant que reflet de leur exp\u00e9rience de la spiritualit\u00e9. <\/p>\n\n
Pour r\u00e9sumer, les dessins g\u00e9om\u00e9triques, les formes et les figures que les femmes ont cr\u00e9\u00e9s, tiss\u00e9s, sacralis\u00e9s et immortalis\u00e9s sur les tapis constituent un acc\u00e8s important \u00e0 leur monde cosmologique et \u00e0 leur univers quotidien, dans lequel la spiritualit\u00e9 se m\u00eale aux exp\u00e9riences journali\u00e8res. La puissance de ces dessins r\u00e9side dans leur capacit\u00e9 \u00e0 donner sens et \u00e0 symboliser, permettant \u00e0 ces dessins de survivre et de continuer d\u2019attirer l\u2019attention. Le symbolisme profond\u00e9ment enracin\u00e9 que ces dessins encodent est devenu une partie int\u00e9grante de l\u2019\u00ab\u2009inconscient\u2009\u00bb berb\u00e8re, au sens de l\u2019\u00ab\u2009inconscient collectif\u2009\u00bb de Jung. Cela explique en partie le caract\u00e8re sacr\u00e9, la v\u00e9n\u00e9ration, les rituels et les chants qui accompagnent les diff\u00e9rentes \u00e9tapes du tissage d\u2019un tapis, que la communaut\u00e9 ch\u00e9rit encore aujourd\u2019hui. <\/p>\n\n
Weaving in Berber tribes has always been surrounded with mystique, and weavers were and are thought to bestow baraka (blessing), and as such, command respect and authority within the family and in the larger community (Chafik 2005). This baraka is transposed to the wool they used. Astta, the act of weaving in Berber, is a highly ritualized performance. For example, wool is carefully selected, washed in the river, combed, spun, and dyed before carpets are woven on upright vertical looms that are often used as sacred objects in significant events, such as ceremonies to protect the virginity of young girls (Becker 2006). <\/p>\n\n
La c\u00e9r\u00e9monie qui accompagne l\u2019utilisation du m\u00e9tier \u00e0 tisser varie d\u2019une r\u00e9gion \u00e0 l\u2019autre, mais dans les montagnes du Haut Atlas, la jeune fille enjambe sept fois le m\u00e9tier \u00e0 tisser en un mouvement de va-et-vient et r\u00e9p\u00e9tant \u00ab\u2009bismillah, bismillah, bismillah\u2009\u00bb (\u00ab\u2009au nom de Dieu\u2009\u00bb), invoquant ainsi le pouvoir sacr\u00e9 qu\u2019a l\u2019outil de prot\u00e9ger sa virginit\u00e9. Cette c\u00e9r\u00e9monie souligne la sacralit\u00e9 du m\u00e9tier \u00e0 tisser et sa capacit\u00e9 \u00e0 maintenir la coh\u00e9sion familiale et communautaire, assurant la virginit\u00e9 des jeunes filles comme garantie lignag\u00e8re. <\/p>\n\n
Envisager les dessins de tapis comme des archives historiques est une entreprise int\u00e9ressante, dans laquelle l\u2019utilitaire et le sacr\u00e9 se m\u00ealent sur le plan s\u00e9mantique et mat\u00e9riel. D\u2019un point de vue s\u00e9mantique, la combinaison de l\u2019utilitaire et du sacr\u00e9 fait partie de la vision du monde de ces femmes \u2013 que ce soit physiquement ou abstraitement \u2013, et d\u2019un point de vue mat\u00e9riel, dans la vie r\u00e9elle, cette double perception fait partie des exp\u00e9riences journali\u00e8res de ces femmes. L\u2019extraordinaire combinaison de l\u2019utilitaire et du symbolique se communique des femmes aux familles et \u00e0 la communaut\u00e9. Ce n\u2019est pas un hasard si les communaut\u00e9s berb\u00e8res ont toujours prosp\u00e9r\u00e9 sur le besoin simultan\u00e9 de b\u00e9n\u00e9fices \u00e9conomiques et de symbolisme. Cela met en \u00e9vidence le r\u00f4le des femmes non seulement dans la production d\u2019un savoir artistique au sein de la communaut\u00e9, mais aussi dans la consolidation de la survie et de la p\u00e9rennit\u00e9 de cette derni\u00e8re. Les dessins sont \u00e0 ce point centraux dans le syst\u00e8me symbolique des communaut\u00e9s berb\u00e8res qu\u2019ils ont \u00e9t\u00e9 reproduits dans les ornements du corps et les v\u00eatements \u00e0 travers les si\u00e8cles. <\/p>\n\n
Historically, the origin of carpet-weaving in Berber communities dates back to the Paleolithic era at a time when the first inhabitants of North Africa, the ancient Berber populations, used to hand-spin cloth (Brett and Fentress 1996; Chafik 2005). Significantly, every tribe has a style of carpet that distinguishes it from other tribes. Studies have shown that carpet-weaving is the oldest recorded art in North Africa and that this practice is intrinsically associated with Berber women (Mernissi 2004; Becker 2006; Sadiqi 2014, among others). Today, carpet-weaving is perceived as a rural female art. Most artists were\/are illiterate in the sense that they were\/are not taught how to read or write. The presence of symbols related to feminine divinities, such as the triangle, is the product of ancestral transmission, which they may modify without destroying the designs and patters they inherited. As such, the art of making carpets continues to be a product of women\u2019s creativity and imagination, away from any ready-made models (Chtatou 2020). <\/p>\n\n
Historiquement, le tissage des tapis, au Maroc et dans la r\u00e9gion, a toujours rempli des fonctions majeures \u00e0 la fois \u00e9conomiques et symboliques. L\u2019anthropologue Claudine Cohen (2016) affirme que les femmes tissent depuis des temps imm\u00e9moriaux et que leur travail a toujours \u00e9t\u00e9 important pour l\u2019\u00e9conomie des communaut\u00e9s. Cohen s\u2019appuie sur le travail de l\u2019anthropologue am\u00e9ricain James Frazer, qui d\u00e9clarait que : <\/p>\n\n
\n\u201cWomen have contributed more than men in the history of economic advancement, in particular to the transformation of the sedentary life, from a subsistence based on nature to a human-made lifestyle (Frazer 1912:129, cited in Cohen 2016:141). (Author\u2019s translation) <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
This statement applies to Berber women, as various studies have shown (Ben Miled 1998, Chafik 2005; Mernissi 2004; Becker 2006; Naji 2007). Throughout history, women imagined designs and wove them on carpets. Men then sold the rugs and the money earned was used to buy food and other necessities for the household. This practice continues to the present time in the villages of the Atlas Mountains and women\u2019s rugs continue to be sold in local markets as the main source of income for rural families (Belghiti 1971; Belarbi 1995). The volume and nature of the commercial transactions was historically affected by the specific environments in which they were made: the rugs were smaller and transportable if the tribes were nomadic or semi-nomadic and bigger if the tribes were sedentary. In other words, the type and size of the rugs had to match the lifestyle of Berber tribes. The thick and multi-layered rugs that abounded in the cold Atlas Mountains contrasted with the light and flat rugs of the hot Saharan areas. Today, tribes are more sedentary, and the rugs are generally medium to big in size. <\/p>\n\n
Il est \u00e9vident que les diff\u00e9rents styles et textures des tapis constituent par cons\u00e9quent des sources majeures d\u2019information quant aux modes de vie anciens et \u00e0 la mani\u00e8re dont les \u00eatres humains interagissaient avec leur environnement en Afrique du Nord. En outre, en aidant les communaut\u00e9s \u00e0 survivre, le tissage des tapis est une source d\u2019information sur le statut des femmes en tant qu\u2019artistes dans les communaut\u00e9s berb\u00e8res. Les tapis rev\u00eatent \u00e9galement une importance certaine pour l\u2019\u00e9tude de l\u2019histoire et de l\u2019\u00e9volution des modes de vie tribaux. Ils peuvent, par exemple, nous apprendre beaucoup du mode de vie agricole des tribus, dans lequel le r\u00f4le jou\u00e9 par le mouton (dont provient la laine utilis\u00e9e pour le tissage) est essentiel. Ils peuvent \u00e9galement fournir des informations sur la direction que prennent les tribus nomades, sur la continuit\u00e9 ou la discontinuit\u00e9 de leurs d\u00e9placements, et sur leurs variations de taille et leur situation \u00e9conomique. <\/p>\n\n
Ces tapis peuvent \u00e9galement nous renseigner sur l\u2019origine et le d\u00e9veloppement de l\u2019artisanat dans les communaut\u00e9s berb\u00e8res, car ils n\u2019\u00e9taient pas uniquement utiles dans la maisonn\u00e9e et la communaut\u00e9, ils l\u2019\u00e9taient et le sont encore pour le d\u00e9veloppement d\u2019autres activit\u00e9s, telles que la conception des m\u00e9tiers \u00e0 tisser utilis\u00e9s par les femmes. Ces derniers sont g\u00e9n\u00e9ralement longs de deux m\u00e8tres, sont faits en bois et ont des formes \u00e0 la fois verticales et horizontales qui facilitent leur usage au sol, les femmes \u00e9tant assises derri\u00e8re. L\u2019\u00e9tude de l\u2019histoire et de l\u2019\u00e9volution de ces outils nous \u00e9claire sur la fa\u00e7on dont les \u00eatres humains ont \u00e9volu\u00e9 en Afrique du Nord dans leur qu\u00eate de subsistance et de survie \u00e0 travers les \u00e2ges. Ces \u00e9tudes nous aident \u00e0 comprendre la division du travail selon le sexe et la structure familiale \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9poque antique, mais elles peuvent \u00eatre encore mises \u00e0 contribution pour nous aider \u00e0 interpr\u00e9ter le temps pr\u00e9sent. Pour r\u00e9sumer, le r\u00f4le jou\u00e9 par les tapis dans l\u2019\u00e9conomie en fait de v\u00e9ritables archives historiques et culturelles capables de servir de sources d\u2019information pr\u00e9cieuses sur le pass\u00e9 et le pr\u00e9sent des pays et r\u00e9gions dans lesquels vivaient et vivent encore les communaut\u00e9s berb\u00e8res. <\/p>\n\n
Rugs have had a symbolic function, as revealed by a textual analysis of the designs they have carried for centuries. Berber rugs are characterized by what is referred to as \u201cthe Berber knot,\u201d a technique that is performed manually by the weaver. The Berber weavers did not historically use any model and the Berber carpet does not originate from the oriental carpets of the Islamic world, although the two types share similar knotting techniques and certain patterns. It seems that it was Berber women who invented the Berber knot, and as weaving was the privilege of some women, performing the knot bestowed baraka on the weaver, a baraka that is then transferred to the wool and weaving instruments (Basset 1922). The knot bestows blessing because it incorporates a woman\u2019s secret knowledge of how to make the knot. This blessing is transferred to the wool and the weaving instruments because these tools allow women\u2019s knowledge to be transferred from generation to generation. <\/p>\n\n
Les formes des dessins de tapis varient, mais pr\u00e9sentent des r\u00e9currences, les plus frappantes \u00e9tant\u2009: les triangles invers\u00e9s ou non, les lignes horizontales, les cercles, les serpents, les scorpions, les rivi\u00e8res, les fleurs, les \u00e9toiles, les lunes, les mains, les yeux, les tajin, les th\u00e9i\u00e8res et les cuill\u00e8res. Les tapis se caract\u00e9risent \u00e9galement par des couleurs vives, principalement le rouge, le jaune, le bleu et le vert. Symboliquement, la couleur rouge repr\u00e9sente la force et la protection, le bleu la sagesse, le jaune l\u2019\u00e9ternit\u00e9, et le vert la paix. <\/p>\n\n
Les dessins des tapis ont attis\u00e9 la curiosit\u00e9 de divers chercheurs et voyageurs durant l\u2019histoire, mais ce n\u2019est qu\u2019\u00e0 l\u2019\u00e8re postcoloniale que des lectures s\u00e9rieuses \u00e0 leur sujet ont commenc\u00e9 d\u2019appara\u00eetre, pour la plupart dans le cadre de l\u2019histoire sociale et de la reconstitution de l\u2019histoire de l\u2019Afrique du Nord. Ces lectures peuvent \u00eatre class\u00e9es en trois cat\u00e9gories principales\u2009: celles qui consid\u00e8rent ces dessins comme des marqueurs culturels, celles qui voient en eux des marqueurs identitaires, et celles qui les envisagent comme un art f\u00e9minin. <\/p>\n\n
In modern times, the first group of people to be interested in the designs of Berber rugs were the French colonizers. During the colonization of Morocco (1912\u20131956), the French endeavored to co-opt and demystify Berber women\u2019s weaving by appropriating their art. Hence, in the 1930s, many French designers such as Le Corbusier, Charles and Ray Eames, and Hugo Alvar Alto included soft Berber rugs in their houses as a complement to their austere-looking furniture. Others, like Frank Lloyd Wright, brought carpets from Morocco for their clients. It is practices like these that popularized Berber rugs in the West. For these colonizers, Berber rugs were a marker of a distinct Berber culture, a distinction useful for the divide-and-rule strategy that the colonizers used to separate Berbers from Arabs. In parallel, many French scholars were interested in simply studying the rugs (Westmarck 1904 and 1926; Ricard 1982; Berque 1964 and 1978). <\/p>\n\n
In the post-independence period, Moroccan scholars used social history to reclaim the voices that had been marginalized in official national history. Novelists such as Driss Chraibi and sociologists such as Abdelkebir Khatibi wrote in French but used Berber women\u2019s productions as a cultural subtext to their fiction and scholarship. In parallel to this, some promoters of Berber language and culture, such as historian Mohamed Chafik, saw in the Berber rugs a strong emblem of a reclaimed Berber language and culture. He argued that Berber tribes have historically distinguished themselves from each other by the type of rugs and weaving styles they adopted (Chafik 2005). According to him, each tribe is traditionally reputed to have its own weaving style, often used to decorate the interior spaces of tents and homes or to display on the back of horses during ceremonies, such as weddings and local festivals. Berber carpets were read as cultural markers and tokens of resistance against French colonization (Chafik 2005). By safeguarding and displaying their carpets during the fight against the colonizers, Berber tribes brandished their pride and ancestral chivalry by decorating their horses with the tribe\u2019s rug designs. In a sense, rugs were flags in times of crisis. While the French colonizers appropriated women\u2019s carpets by making them part of commercial transactions between Morocco and France, and by so doing brushing aside their value as art and Berber women as artists, Moroccans used the discourse on the carpets to reconstruct and decolonize the country\u2019s modern history by including Berber language and culture, which were marginalized in national narratives of resistance (Sadiqi 2014). <\/p>\n\n
Les dessins artistiques employ\u00e9s par les femmes constituent \u00e9galement une forme d\u2019\u00e9criture, des modes combinatoires capables de nous renseigner sur l\u2019histoire pass\u00e9e et pr\u00e9sente. Ainsi, Khatibi (2002) a recours \u00e0 des donn\u00e9es venues de la philosophie du langage pour d\u00e9fendre l\u2019id\u00e9e selon laquelle le tatouage (qui est li\u00e9 au tissage, comme il sera montr\u00e9 plus loin) est une forme d\u2019\u00e9criture en sa qualit\u00e9 de syst\u00e8me s\u00e9miotique visuel et spatial. Cette th\u00e8se prend appui sur le fait que les tatouages, dans la culture berb\u00e8re, se manifestent sur les parties visibles ou expos\u00e9es du corps, telles que le visage, les mains, les bras, et le cou, ce qui pr\u00e9suppose qu\u2019ils rec\u00e8lent des significations destin\u00e9es \u00e0 \u00eatre lues et interpr\u00e9t\u00e9es. Pour r\u00e9sumer, le corps tatou\u00e9 est pour Khatibi corps \u00e9crit, au sens o\u00f9 il forme un langage qui transmet et conserve l\u2019histoire. Ceci est un \u00e9l\u00e9ment d\u2019analyse important, car l\u2019\u00e9criture est li\u00e9e \u00e0 la parole\u2009: des s\u00e9mioticiens tels que Julia Kristeva (1969) consid\u00e8rent que l\u2019\u00e9criture inclut la voix et le langage corporel. De m\u00eame, la sociologue marocaine Rahma Bourquia (1995) voit, dans les traces laiss\u00e9es par l\u2019acte de tatouer, la parole des femmes. Ces deux points de vue sont importants dans l\u2019argument que je propose dans cet essai, car le tatouage reprend des dessins de tissage de tapis pr\u00e9existants. <\/p>\n\n
Les dessins de tapis comme marqueurs d\u2019identit\u00e9<\/h2>\n\n
From the mid-1980s onward and with the rise of the Berber movement, carpet designs became emblems of identity reclamation. In addition to decorating the covers of books that address Berber identity, history, and culture, they started to appear in Berber NGO (non-governmental organizations) brochures and in various newspapers and other media outlets, such as websites that promote Berber culture and language. The symbolism and aesthetics of the designs inspired Berber scholars and politicians. Activists, in particular, adopted the colors of the rug designs for the new Berber flag. In parallel, some scholars started to use the history of Berber women\u2019s carpet-weaving as proof of the long history of Berbers (Ennaji 2014; Chtatou 2020). It is remarkable that the designs are reappearing in today\u2019s youth culture as a token of Berber identity and have at times been used to express a Moroccan, Maghrebi, or a broader African identity as opposed to a Middle Eastern one (Sadiqi 2014). The use of carpet designs beyond carpets intensified before, during, and after the 2010\u20132011 uprisings in North Africa. The recognition of Berber as an official language in the post-uprisings constitution gave more symbolic power to the designs as identity markers. <\/p>\n\n
Les dessins de tapis comme art<\/h2>\n\n
By the beginning of the twenty-first century and with the consolidation of the women\u2019s movement in Morocco, carpet designs started to be read from a feminist point of view as an artistic expression of Berber women. The first feminist scholar to provide such a reading was Fatima Mernissi, who researched carpet weavers in the Moroccan High Atlas Mountains (Mernissi 2004; 2006). According to Mernissi, carpet-weaving is an art form that deserves to be protected in museums because its continuity may be seriously threatened by the increasing migration of young people to nearby towns and cities or to Europe. Mernissi states, <\/p>\n\n
Tribal rugs, antique and contemporary, with their vibrant colors and bold designs, have always fascinated me, just like the art of Matisse and Klee and others who fell under the spell of indigenous art. Many art lovers and collectors all over the world feel passionately attracted to these artistic creations from the most remote desert and mountain areas of North Africa. Numerous books have been published but nobody has focused on the women artists who have been creating these carpet paintings for a very long time (See Mernissi 2006). <\/p>\n\n
La lecture que fait Mernissi du tissage des tapis berb\u00e8res souligne la valeur historique et sociale de l\u2019art des femmes berb\u00e8res. Historiquement, cet art est le seul lien qui demeure entre les deux rives de la M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e apr\u00e8s que la Second Guerre mondiale ait d\u00e9truit la plupart des caract\u00e8res ruraux de l\u2019Europe (Fatima Mernissi, communication personnelle). D\u2019un point de vue social, cet art a \u00e9chapp\u00e9 \u00e0 la fois au contr\u00f4le du colonisateur et \u00e0 celui de l\u2019\u00c9tat marocain, et il est parvenu \u00e0 survivre dans les zones rurales. Cela est propre au pouvoir de l\u2019art. <\/p>\n\n
L\u2019interpr\u00e9tation des dessins de tapis comme des archives historiques<\/h2>\n\n
Significantly, the designs that Berber women have imagined and created are metaphors with specific significance in Berber communities and therefore may be used as genuine historical and linguistic archives. Metaphors are not just an expression; they record and give life to our imagination (Lakoff and Johnson 1980). As a historical archive, they should cease to be considered a \u201csubordinate discourse\u201d (Messick 1987) and instead become known as a \u201cdifferent canon\u201d (Pollock 1999). In the context of this essay, we have shown that they are genuine gateways to three research paths: women\u2019s spirituality, the overall environment in which women evolved, and their constant endeavor to protect themselves, their families, and their communities from evil and supernatural forces. Body adornment in Berber communities is a woman\u2019s ancestral art whose forms, designs, and rituals are easily traceable to those of carpet-weaving. Of these symbols, the frequency of triangles, circles, and horizontal lines abound. There are three main types of body-adornment: traditional tattooing, henna applications, and traditional clothing. Whereas the first type is almost extinct today, the latter two are still vibrant not only in isolated Berber communities but throughout present-day North Africa and beyond. <\/p>\n\n
Le tatouage<\/h2>\n\n
Tattooing (injection of ink into the human body) has been historically recognized as a human practice since the Neolithic Age (Deter-Wolf 2013; Deter-Wolf, Robitaille, Krutak and Galliot 2016). In North Africa, a recent study reports that the world\u2019s most ancient figural tattoos on human bodies was discovered in Egypt[1]. In Berber communities, face and body tattooing is called lusham or siyala and is a traditional practice that leaves permanent marks on the skin. The tattoos are performed on various parts of the body, mainly the cheeks, chin, neck, and the bosom. Such tattoos have meanings depending on the part being tattooed. Thus, the tattoos on the chin symbolize fertility and those on the neck and bosom symbolize protection from the evil eye. The color of the tattoos is light to deep green, which is probably the natural result of the herbal plant ingredients used in the tattoo art. <\/p>\n\n
Les tatouages \u00e9taient traditionnellement r\u00e9alis\u00e9s par des femmes \u00e2g\u00e9es sur les corps des jeunes filles et des jeunes gar\u00e7ons lors de rites ou d\u2019\u00e9v\u00e8nements importants de la vie tels que la naissance, le mariage, la circoncision, etc. Plus sp\u00e9cifiquement, les futures belles-m\u00e8res r\u00e9alisaient des tatouages sur le visage et le corps des jeunes filles vierges afin de les marquer en tant futures brus. Cet acte sp\u00e9cifique est appel\u00e9 rshim en berb\u00e8re. Quant aux jeunes gar\u00e7ons, ils \u00e9taient traditionnellement tatou\u00e9s avant leur circoncision, dans le but d\u2019assurer leur virilit\u00e9 et de les prot\u00e9ger du mauvais \u0153il. Le r\u00e9sultat de ces deux performances \u00e9tait expos\u00e9 aux regards, au cours des c\u00e9r\u00e9monies de mariage et de circoncision, afin de mettre en \u00e9vidence la puret\u00e9 de la fianc\u00e9e et du gar\u00e7on devant \u00eatre circoncis. Cette exhibition faisait partie des rites qui accompagnaient les c\u00e9r\u00e9monies de mariage et de circoncision et marquaient l\u2019entr\u00e9e des filles et des gar\u00e7ons dans la communaut\u00e9. Accompagnant ces importants rites de passage, le tatouage traditionnel combinait esth\u00e9tique (l\u2019embellissement des visages et des corps des femmes), protection face au mauvais \u0153il et aux esprits mal\u00e9fiques, et socialisation. <\/p>\n\n
Beyond their social functions, traditional tattooing marked other cycles of a woman\u2019s life, such as the onset of pregnancy, childbirth, and baptism that symbolize the value of the community for the individual. Tattooing was also used as a healing practice and as a shield from infertility. The aesthetic, therapeutic, and social functions of traditional tattooing in Berber communities have been recorded in images and linked to the local practices that preceded the coming of Islam in North Africa (Brousse 2012). <\/p>\n\n
\u00c0 l\u2019heure actuelle, les tatouages traditionnels ont perdu l\u2019estime de la population et sont en train de dispara\u00eetre comme t\u00e9moignage de l\u2019ancien paganisme, strictement prohib\u00e9 par l\u2019islam. En effet, l\u2019av\u00e8nement de l\u2019islam, religion monoth\u00e9iste, a \u00e9t\u00e9 instrumentalis\u00e9 par les interpr\u00e8tes masculins des textes sacr\u00e9s afin d\u2019interdire toute exposition du corps humain. Ces derniers ont vu dans les tatouages une menace \u00e0 la foi et consid\u00e9r\u00e9 ceux dont des parties du corps \u00e9taient tatou\u00e9es comme \u00e9tant promis \u00e0 l\u2019enfer, o\u00f9 seul le feu pourrait les effacer. Toutefois, bien qu\u2019il soit en voie de disparition, le tatouage traditionnel est toujours consid\u00e9r\u00e9 comme faisant partie des savoir-faire f\u00e9minins dans les communaut\u00e9s berb\u00e8res, principalement en raison de sa dimension symbolique s\u00e9duisante. <\/p>\n\n
The shapes and forms of lusham are similar to those of carpets. This claim is corroborated by the fact that lusham designs, like carpet designs, were generally accompanied by the ritual of chanting and, like carpet designs, were considered sacred in the community. Additionally, beyond the household, the patterns of tattoo designs, like those of carpets, were a means of distinguishing one tribe from another. They were also a means to retrace one\u2019s family lineage or the history of their land, thus highlighting the position of women in the cohesion and durability of Berber communities (Brousse 2012). <\/p>\n\n
Les tatouages, tout comme les dessins des tapis, sont l\u2019expression de la spiritualit\u00e9 des femmes berb\u00e8res. L\u2019image de la d\u00e9esse Tanit se mat\u00e9rialise dans les deux types d\u2019art, offrant une combinaison de lignes verticales et horizontales, de cercles ou de points, r\u00e9actualisant ainsi le symbolisme de la sexualit\u00e9 et de la fertilit\u00e9 f\u00e9minines. Au final, tout comme les dessins des tapis, les tatouages sont de pr\u00e9cieuses cl\u00e9s d\u2019interpr\u00e9tation du savoir symbolique f\u00e9minin en l\u2019absence de documentation \u00e9crite. Ils peuvent aider \u00e0 reconstituer l\u2019identit\u00e9 et l\u2019histoire non seulement des femmes, mais aussi des communaut\u00e9s berb\u00e8res, leur art et leur cosmologie en p\u00e9ril. <\/p>\n\n
Le henn\u00e9<\/h2>\n\n
Henna is used in dying or coloring the human body. The henna colors vary between light and dark red. Like carpet weaving and tattooing, henna preparation and application are a feminine practice that is often accompanied by rituals and chanting and is associated with baraka, healing, and protection from the evil eye; it is a sacred practice in Berber communities, and hennaed designs are also used to combat infertility (Westermarck 1926). <\/p>\n\n
L\u2019une des fonctions majeures du henn\u00e9 est de marquer les principaux \u00e9v\u00e8nements et cycles de la vie d\u2019une femme, d\u2019un homme ou d\u2019un enfant\u2009: naissance, mariage, grossesse, circoncision, et autres \u00e9v\u00e8nements culturellement significatifs. Il est appliqu\u00e9 sur les cheveux, les mains et les pieds, de m\u00eame que sur le corps des femmes, mais \u00e9galement sur les nouveau-n\u00e9s, les gar\u00e7ons circoncis et les jeunes mari\u00e9s. Le henn\u00e9 demeure l\u2019\u00e9l\u00e9ment principal de la parure corporelle de la mari\u00e9e. Cet usage sp\u00e9cifique a pour objectif de la prot\u00e9ger des mauvais esprits, des forces surnaturelles, des maladies et de la mort. Dans une moindre mesure, cette utilisation s\u2019applique aussi au mari\u00e9 et au nouveau-n\u00e9. Au-del\u00e0 du corps physique, le henn\u00e9 occupe, dans les communaut\u00e9s berb\u00e8res, une fonction th\u00e9rapeutique et il est utilis\u00e9 pour soigner des maladies mentales telles que la d\u00e9pression. Il est, \u00e0 cet \u00e9gard, r\u00e9put\u00e9 apporter le r\u00e9confort et la paix de l\u2019esprit dans les moments de tension int\u00e9rieure. En effet, le mot henn\u00e9 est associ\u00e9 s\u00e9mantiquement \u00e0 celui de lhnint (\u00ab\u2009affection\u2009\u00bb), et ce dernier pourrait d\u00e9river du premier\u2009; le henn\u00e9 est \u00e9galement suppos\u00e9 provenir du Paradis. Fait int\u00e9ressant, les dessins appliqu\u00e9s au henn\u00e9 sont similaires \u00e0 ceux des tapis et des tatouages. La fr\u00e9quence des triangles invers\u00e9s et non invers\u00e9s, des cercles, et des lignes horizontales rappelle beaucoup les autres dessins artistiques employ\u00e9s par les femmes et partage leur symbolisme. <\/p>\n\n
Les v\u00eatements<\/h2>\n\n
Dans les communaut\u00e9s berb\u00e8res, les femmes ont cr\u00e9\u00e9 des styles vari\u00e9s de v\u00eatements pour les femmes, les hommes et les enfants, c\u00e9l\u00e9brant les \u00e9tapes de la vie familiale telles qu\u2019un mariage, une naissance ou une circoncision. Le premier port de ces v\u00eatements est souvent accompagn\u00e9 de rituels particuliers, dans lesquels on implore la divinit\u00e9 d\u2019accorder sa b\u00e9n\u00e9diction aux porteurs. Ces v\u00eatements sp\u00e9ciaux cr\u00e9ent des liens familiaux et soulignent les significations culturelles que rev\u00eatent ces \u00e9tapes dans la vie d\u2019une personne, tout en mettant en \u00e9vidence la centralit\u00e9 des femmes dans la conception et la transmission de ces \u00e9v\u00e8nements. Ces robes sont aussi un moyen d\u2019assurer la socialisation particuli\u00e8re des personnes au sein de leur communaut\u00e9 et d\u2019inscrire des significations sociales sp\u00e9ciales, de construire des valeurs sp\u00e9cifiques et, par le rituel, de transmettre une identit\u00e9 et d\u2019assurer la continuit\u00e9 de leurs communaut\u00e9s. En plus des robes de f\u00eate, les femmes berb\u00e8res confectionnent des robes qui sont port\u00e9es lors de danses collectives publiques et mixtes. Un exemple de ces danses est l\u2019ahidous, qui au d\u00e9part c\u00e9l\u00e9brait le temps des r\u00e9coltes, et qui est ex\u00e9cut\u00e9 dans des espaces priv\u00e9s comme publics. L\u2019ahidous jouit toujours d\u2019une grande popularit\u00e9 aupr\u00e8s des Berb\u00e8res (et des Marocains). <\/p>\n\n
Les dessins et les mod\u00e8les utilis\u00e9s sur les v\u00eatements faits par les femmes sont similaires \u00e0 ceux employ\u00e9s dans le tissage, le tatouage et le henn\u00e9. De m\u00eame, le triangle, le cercle, les lignes horizontales et la Lune, ainsi que les couleurs vives, sont repris dans la fabrication des textiles. Tout comme le tissage de tapis, on consid\u00e8re que la fabrication de textiles conf\u00e8re la baraka \u00e0 quiconque porte des v\u00eatements faits maison et les prot\u00e8ge des forces obscures (djins ou esprits) ainsi que du mauvais \u0153il. Une cr\u00e9atrice de textiles, tout comme une tisseuse de tapis, une tatoueuse ou une couturi\u00e8re, force le respect et est investie d\u2019une autorit\u00e9 dans sa communaut\u00e9. <\/p>\n\n
Dans l\u2019ensemble, les dessins que les femmes berb\u00e8res ont con\u00e7us et cr\u00e9\u00e9s, et qui \u00e9taient \u00e0 l\u2019origine utilis\u00e9s sur les tapis, ont \u00e9t\u00e9 reproduits dans les domaines du tatouage, du henn\u00e9 et du v\u00eatement. Qu\u2019ils soient tiss\u00e9s, tatou\u00e9s, pass\u00e9s au henn\u00e9 ou sur les v\u00eatements qu\u2019on porte, ces dessins constituent de v\u00e9ritables cl\u00e9s pour la compr\u00e9hension de la spiritualit\u00e9 et de la cosmologie des femmes berb\u00e8res. Dans ces communaut\u00e9s, on consid\u00e8re g\u00e9n\u00e9ralement que ces dessins apportent la paix de l\u2019esprit dans les moments de transition ou d\u2019angoisse, d\u2019o\u00f9 leur constante association avec la baraka si fortement recherch\u00e9e qu\u2019invoque l\u2019art f\u00e9minin. Il faut noter que les dessins des tapis, tout comme le symbolisme dont ils sont porteurs, ont \u00e9t\u00e9 reproduits dans les parures corporelles comme si les femmes avaient inconsciemment r\u00e9sist\u00e9 \u00e0 la perte de leur art face \u00e0 la puissante agression des religions h\u00e9g\u00e9moniques. Cette constante r\u00e9plication de leurs dessins protecteurs a sauv\u00e9 leur art. Tout comme le pouvoir des dessins imagin\u00e9s et cr\u00e9\u00e9s par les femmes est la cl\u00e9 de leur monde spirituel et cosmologique, il est aussi essentiel pour la langue qu\u2019ils ont pr\u00e9serv\u00e9e et transmise \u00e0 travers les mill\u00e9naires, comme je le d\u00e9montre dans la section suivante. <\/p>\n\n
Les dessins de tapis sont-ils li\u00e9s \u00e0 la langue berb\u00e8re\u2009?<\/h2>\n\n
Bien que les communaut\u00e9s berb\u00e8res n\u2019aient jamais \u00e9t\u00e9 unies sur le plan religieux, elles l\u2019ont toujours \u00e9t\u00e9 sur celui de la langue2 . En d\u2019autres termes, l\u2019unit\u00e9 linguistique a constitu\u00e9 l\u2019\u00e9pine dorsale de la culture berb\u00e8re et le principal moyen de sa survie. En un sens, si les pratiques religieuses \u00e9taient locales, l\u2019unit\u00e9 linguistique a sauvegard\u00e9 les fronti\u00e8res ext\u00e9rieures des communaut\u00e9s berb\u00e8res. Et cette configuration unique du religieux et du linguistique a \u00e9t\u00e9 solidifi\u00e9e, pr\u00e9serv\u00e9e et transmise par les femmes. <\/p>\n\n
L\u2019une des caract\u00e9ristiques de la langue berb\u00e8re est son alphabet, le tifinagh, l\u2019un des plus vieux au monde, et son syst\u00e8me grammatical a fait l\u2019objet d\u2019\u00e9tudes s\u00e9rieuses depuis le milieu du vingti\u00e8me si\u00e8cle. Ceci ne signifie pas que le berb\u00e8re n\u2019avait pas de grammaire ant\u00e9rieurement au milieu du vingti\u00e8me si\u00e8cle, car la langue est par d\u00e9finition un syst\u00e8me grammatical. Ce retard relatif dans la production d\u2019une grammaire berb\u00e8re est principalement d\u00fb au fait que, contrairement \u00e0 l\u2019arabe, le berb\u00e8re est une langue s\u00e9culi\u00e8re et priv\u00e9e qui n\u2019a pas \u00e9t\u00e9 promue publiquement puisqu\u2019elle n\u2019a jamais \u00e9t\u00e9 soutenue par un livre sacr\u00e9[3] . <\/p>\n\n
Il est frappant que l\u2019alphabet berb\u00e8re, le tifinagh, ait une si longue existence en d\u00e9pit du fait qu\u2019il n\u2019a pas \u00e9t\u00e9 beaucoup utilis\u00e9 dans l\u2019histoire et jamais pour de longs textes. De plus, le temps \u00e9coul\u00e9 entre l\u2019adoption d\u2019un alphabet et la standardisation de la langue est th\u00e9oriquement long\u2009; or dans le cas du berb\u00e8re, la standardisation du tifinagh et celle du berb\u00e8re se sont produites quasi simultan\u00e9ment \u00e0 partir des ann\u00e9es 1960. \u00c0 la lumi\u00e8re de ces faits, je soutiens que l\u2019alphabet berb\u00e8re n\u2019a pas \u00e9t\u00e9 cr\u00e9\u00e9 ex nihilo, mais qu\u2019il a adopt\u00e9 les dessins des tapis berb\u00e8res. Cette affirmation est \u00e9tay\u00e9e par la similarit\u00e9 physique frappante entre les dessins de tapis et l\u2019\u00e9criture de l\u2019alphabet berb\u00e8re, ainsi que par l\u2019\u00e9volution de cet alphabet. <\/p>\n\n
Il existe une ressemblance physique frappante entre les dessins de tapis et ceux des gravures rupestres en ce qui concerne l\u2019utilisation des lignes horizontales et verticales, ainsi que du cercle \u2013 une \u00e9tonnante pr\u00e9sence de Tanit et de la spiritualit\u00e9 des femmes. Les recherches arch\u00e9ologiques ont \u00e9galement r\u00e9v\u00e9l\u00e9 de nombreuses autres inscriptions similaires \u00e0 travers toute l\u2019Afrique du Nord et la M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e. Cette ressemblance physique entre dessins de tapis et caract\u00e8res tifinaghs soul\u00e8ve la question suivante\u2009: comment expliquer la relation entre l\u2019alphabet tifinagh et l\u2019\u00e9criture de la langue berb\u00e8re\u2009? <\/p>\n\n
Tifinagh is one of the oldest forms of writing in human history (Bouhali 1987; Camps 1996; Claudot-Hawad 1996; Chaker 1996; Brous 1996; Souag 2004; and Lefkioui 2018). It has existed for twenty-five centuries and is one of the few scripts that resisted the hegemony of other scriptures that supported strong civilizations, such as those of the Romans and the Byzantines. Tifinagh originates from the graphic symbols on rock carvings. It was first used by Tuareg nomads to write short texts in Tamashek (a variant of Berber). Only a mastery of Tamashek allows a deciphering of such texts, mainly because of the absence of vowels. As with most human languages, the first version of Tifinagh contained a limited inventory of consonants. Increasing contact between the Berber language and other written languages, especially Phoenician, was a positive factor in the improvement and modernization of the Tifinagh alphabet (Billouche 2003; O\u2019Connor 1996; and Souag 2004). The original Tuareg ancient Tifinagh was, thus, subject to several revisions (sometimes referred to as Neo-Tifinagh), the most important of which are: the former Sahara, the Libyan vertical, the horizontal Libyan, and the Berber Academy Agraw (see Tifinagh n\u00b0 1, December 1993\/January 1994, p. 12). <\/p>\n\n
La version actuelle du tifinagh qui est utilis\u00e9e au Maroc est appel\u00e9e Tifinagh-IRCAM (Institut royal pour la culture amazighe). Alors que le tifinagh ancien et le n\u00e9o-tifinagh ne comportent pas de voyelles, le tifinagh contemporain contient 33 symboles incluant des consonnes et des voyelles et est unicode (un son par symbole). Cette derni\u00e8re version a \u00e9t\u00e9 \u00e9tablie au Maroc \u00e0 partir de versions ant\u00e9rieures de tifinagh et est utilis\u00e9e pour \u00e9crire les mots et les textes dans comme hors des \u00e9coles nationales publiques et priv\u00e9es, au Maroc et en Alg\u00e9rie. Le Tifinagh-IRCAL est \u00e9galement utilis\u00e9 dans la publicit\u00e9 pr\u00e9sente dans les villes et villages de la r\u00e9gion, tout comme \u00e0 l\u2019accueil des minist\u00e8res et autres institutions officielles. Pour r\u00e9sumer, le tifinagh est \u00e0 pr\u00e9sent pleinement accept\u00e9 comme alphabet de la langue berb\u00e8re, consolidant ainsi l\u2019unit\u00e9 linguistique ancestrale des communaut\u00e9s berb\u00e8res. <\/p>\n\n
The physical resemblance to carpet designs of Tifinagh is related to women both historically and in modern times. Historically, it was mothers who taught Tifinagh to their children by drawing letters on the sand (Sadiqi et al. 2009). Tifinagh signs were also said to convey special meanings and cryptic messages that only women could understand or decipher (Sadiqi et al. 2009). In modern times, anthropological, sociological, and literary studies have shown that Berber women\u2019s carpet and tattoo designs, like Tifinagh, were forms of writing (Marcy 1973; Ramirez and Rollot 1995). <\/p>\n\n
\u00c9tant donn\u00e9 que l\u2019alphabet d\u2019une langue est la base de sa morphologie et de sa syntaxe (c\u2019est\u00e0-dire de sa grammaire), les signes de l\u2019alphabet tifinagh sont les \u00e9l\u00e9ments constitutifs de la grammaire berb\u00e8re, une grammaire qui a r\u00e9sist\u00e9 \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9preuve du temps alors m\u00eame que le tifinagh n\u2019\u00e9tait que tr\u00e8s peu employ\u00e9 dans les textes berb\u00e8res \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9crit. L\u2019unique explication de la survie du tifinagh et de la langue berb\u00e8re r\u00e9side dans la trajectoire ininterrompue du tissage de tapis. La th\u00e8se que je d\u00e9fends ici est que la langue berb\u00e8re a exist\u00e9 sous forme orale des si\u00e8cles durant, mais qu\u2019elle n\u2019a \u00e9t\u00e9 codifi\u00e9e et \u00e9crite accompagn\u00e9e de son alphabet que plus tard, en utilisant les dessins des tapis des femmes comme source d\u2019inspiration. En d\u2019autres mots, le tifinagh a surv\u00e9cu gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 l\u2019art du tissage de tapis, et c\u2019est l\u2019imagination artistique des femmes qui a cr\u00e9\u00e9, perp\u00e9tu\u00e9 et sauv\u00e9 \u00e0 la fois les dessins de tapis et la langue berb\u00e8re. Le symbolisme qui les caract\u00e9rise tous deux confirme le r\u00f4le central, sur le plan \u00e0 la fois spirituel et mat\u00e9riel, des femmes berb\u00e8res dans la p\u00e9rennit\u00e9 de leurs communaut\u00e9s \u00e0 travers les si\u00e8cles. <\/p>\n\n
La survie du tifinagh en tant que syst\u00e8me d\u2019\u00e9criture est, par cons\u00e9quent, due \u00e0 son \u00e9troite relation s\u00e9mantique et s\u00e9miotique avec les dessins artistiques pratiqu\u00e9s par les femmes, lesquels fonctionnent aussi comme une forme d\u2019\u00e9criture et de parole f\u00e9minine. En d\u2019autres mots, les dessins des tapis et des parures corporelles ont \u00e9t\u00e9 essentiels \u00e0 la codification et \u00e0 la stabilisation de la langue berb\u00e8re. Si les dessins des tapis ont inspir\u00e9 les tatouages, puis l\u2019alphabet tifinagh, alors il est possible de postuler qu\u2019ils ont inspir\u00e9 la codification de la langue berb\u00e8re. <\/p>\n\n
This is a unique phenomenon in linguistics that merits further research because there is a solid assumption in this field of research that if an alphabet is not used for a long time, the language it is supposed to write dies. The case of Berber refutes this hypothesis in the sense that this language has existed for millennia, but only in its oral form. This is an extraordinary phenomenon in linguistics and its symbolic implications are yet to be fathomed. Additionally, the uniqueness of the Berber case is that it differs from the usual cases whereby the codification and stabilization of languages is more grounded in linguistics, rather than artistic elements (Ayres-Bennet and Sanson 2020). As women are generally marginalized in the linguistic canon, a further implication of this study is that women, not men, codified and stabilized the Berber language (Bennett and Sanson 2020). <\/p>\n\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n
In this paper, I have presented a reading of Berber women\u2019s ancestral creative designs on carpets as a growing archive and key to understanding the past and the present in Berber communities. The designs are repositories of women\u2019s spirituality and their role in the codification and stabilization of the Berber language. This reading clarifies the links between women\u2019s symbolic designs and their spirituality, environment, community, and language. These links are key to further research on the power of feminine symbolism, which has preserved these links and continues to do so. The historical and linguistic dimensions of women\u2019s symbolic expressions are vast and reveal exciting new research possibilities about women in North Africa. Today, a nascent interest in the role of women in the history of languages and linguistics forces more focus on the linguistic dimension of Berber women\u2019s art (Bennett and Sanson 2020). <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":[],"series-categories":[1352],"cat-articles":[1819],"keywords":[1849,1850,1852,1851],"ppma_author":[529],"class_list":["post-26838","series-issues","type-series-issues","status-publish","hentry","series-categories-numero-1","cat-articles-arts","keywords-art","keywords-berbers","keywords-north-africa","keywords-women","author-fatima-sadiqi-fr"],"yoast_head":"\n
Berber Women\u2019s Art: A Link Between North Africa and the Continent | Global Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/issues\/numero-1\/berber-womens-art-a-link-between-north-africa-and-the-continent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Berber Women\u2019s Art: A Link Between North Africa and the Continent | Global Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"L\u2019art des femmes berb\u00e8res est le plus ancien d\u2019Afrique du Nord. Il remonte \u00e0 l\u2019Antiquit\u00e9. Cet art a surv\u00e9cu face \u00e0 de puissantes civilisations conqu\u00e9rantes, et il est toujours vivant. Il a fascin\u00e9 et inspir\u00e9 des \u00e9rudits et des gens ordinaires, mais c\u2019est seulement \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9poque postcoloniale que des lectures s\u00e9rieuses de ces dessins ont commenc\u00e9 \u00e0 se faire jour. Interpr\u00e9t\u00e9 comme un puissant marqueur culturel, un marqueur identitaire, et comme expression f\u00e9minine, cet art a des affinit\u00e9s avec l\u2019art africain mainstream. Soutenir que l\u2019art des femmes berb\u00e8res est peut-\u00eatre le seul lien significatif subsistant entre l\u2019Afrique du Nord et le reste du continent est une revendication f\u00e9ministe. En plus de fournir une lecture de l\u2019histoire nord-africaine, il fait ressortir comment l\u2019expression artistique des femmes berb\u00e8res \u00e9claire certains aspects de la mani\u00e8re dont les communaut\u00e9s vivent et interagissent dans cette histoire. Elle met \u00e9galement en lumi\u00e8re le lien entre cette expression artistique et la codification et la stabilisation de la langue berb\u00e8re. Ce dernier point m\u00e8ne la revendication f\u00e9ministe \u00e0 un degr\u00e9 sup\u00e9rieur dans lequel on pr\u00e9sume que l\u2019art f\u00e9minin produit un savoir linguistique, un th\u00e8me jusqu\u2019ici inexploit\u00e9. De plus, en se focalisant sur l\u2019art des femmes, cet essai adopte, pour aborder l\u2019histoire sociale et la langue berb\u00e8re, un type particulier de m\u00e9thodologie f\u00e9ministe dans lequel les sources historiques sont utilis\u00e9es pour produire de la connaissance et non pas simplement pour honorer le pass\u00e9. Some of the carpet designs that women imagined and created over the centuries have been replicated in body adornments, such as henna, tattoos, and in clothing. The designs have fascinated and inspired scholars and ordinary people, but it is only in the postcolonial era that serious readings of these designs have started to become prominent. The designs have been read as cultural markers, as identity markers, and as feminine art. Illuminating as they are, these readings tend to consider the designs as legacies of feminine creativity that need to be preserved (for scholarship on cultural markers, see Boely 2000; Saulniers 2000; Samama 1996 and 2000; and Chafik 2005. For identity markers, see Ben Miled 1998; Ennaji 2006; and Chtatou 2020. For feminine art, see Jereb 1990; Mernissi 2004; and Becker 2006). In this paper, I build on these readings to present the designs as a historical archive that continues to grow. La spiritualit\u00e9 telle qu\u2019exprim\u00e9e dans les dessins des tapis f\u00e9minins Among the designs associated with women\u2019s spirituality and beliefs, the sun, the stars, the moon, and the sky loom large are related to the nature of ancient Berber religion (Herodotus [Book 4]; Ibn Khaldun Trans. by Rosenthal 1958; El Bekri 1857; Mercier 1901; Doutt\u00e9 1909; Basset 1910; and Ouachi 1985). According to the French Orientalist and linguist Ren\u00e9 Basset (1910), ancient Berbers considered the sky, the mountains, and the rivers as typical loci of divinity. The sky included the sun, the moon, and the stars, the mountains included the rocks and the caves, and the rivers included surfaces with water such as the sea and ocean. They saw the Atlas Mountains as \u201ctouching the sky\u201d and overlooking the Atlantic Ocean which derives its name from the word \u2018Atlas\u2019. The presence of these sites of divinity in weaving is an expression of the beliefs of these women and their creation of a unique cosmology that has trickled down to their families and communities, and, in the absence of documentation on Berber religions, the designs may well be the only sources to help scholars understand these expressions of human creativity and their interactions with religion and spirituality. Of particular interest here is the recurrence of triangles, horizontal lines, and circles grouped together to represent Tanit, with the circle in the upper position (head), the triangle under it (body), and a horizontal line between the two (arms). Tanit was a Berber goddess of water (rain, fertility) in ancient North Africa (Ben Miled 1998). She was the main deity of Carthage (today\u2019s Tunisia), from which her cult spread to the Mediterranean region. Tanit was also the lunar goddess and the symbol of war. Tanit has been represented in different forms, including in tajin, the traditional Berber cooking utensil, but the recurrence of the circle, horizontal line, and triangle remains striking. Significantly, the presence of the goddess Tanit in carpet designs demonstrates the importance of sexuality, procreation, and fertility in ancient Berber women\u2019s cosmology. The meanings of these designs are immortalized in the ritual of Taghunja (or tasliyt n unzar\u2014the rainbow), one of the most significant rituals in Berber communities in Morocco and across the region (Ben Miled 1998). A physical reflection of Tanit, Taghunja (a big doll with a circular head, vertical body, and horizontal arms), is held by a procession of children chanting and imploring for the coming of rain. Like the carpet designs, the ritual of Taghunja, which is still alive, is a powerful archive and a source of information on Berber women\u2019s cosmology prior to the advent of monotheistic religions. In addition to serving as a doorway to Berber women\u2019s spirituality, the carpet designs also serve as a doorway to understanding women\u2019s natural environment and daily chores, as attested in the frequency of beetles, snakes, and scorpions, as well as rivers and flowers. Beetles, snakes, and scorpions denote a rural and hot environment that is matched by a more temperate environment in which rivers are full and flowers blooming. The aesthetics that the latter design captures and the contrast between the hot and cooler environments may be indicative of the changing cycle of seasons, itself linked to the harvest cycle, which is central to Berber life and cosmology. D\u2019autres dessins montrent des tajines (ustensiles de cuisson marocains), des th\u00e9i\u00e8res et des cuill\u00e8res et servent, de ce fait, de point d\u2019entr\u00e9e \u00e0 l\u2019univers des t\u00e2ches quotidiennes f\u00e9minines. Il est important d\u2019ajouter ici qu\u2019au-del\u00e0 de leur usage pour la subsistance quotidienne, ces ustensiles symbolisent \u00e9galement l\u2019hospitalit\u00e9 berb\u00e8re et la fiert\u00e9 de la communaut\u00e9. Le tajin en particulier relie les t\u00e2ches quotidiennes f\u00e9minines \u00e0 leur divinit\u00e9, un lien\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/issues\/numero-1\/berber-womens-art-a-link-between-north-africa-and-the-continent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Global Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/globalafricasciences\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-09T21:48:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Dur\u00e9e de lecture estim\u00e9e\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"37 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.globalafricasciences.org\\\/issues\\\/numero-1\\\/berber-womens-art-a-link-between-north-africa-and-the-continent\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.globalafricasciences.org\\\/issues\\\/numero-1\\\/berber-womens-art-a-link-between-north-africa-and-the-continent\\\/\",\"name\":\"Berber Women\u2019s Art: A Link Between North Africa and the Continent | Global Africa\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.globalafricasciences.org\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-09T08:47:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-09T21:48:08+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.globalafricasciences.org\\\/issues\\\/numero-1\\\/berber-womens-art-a-link-between-north-africa-and-the-continent\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.globalafricasciences.org\\\/issues\\\/numero-1\\\/berber-womens-art-a-link-between-north-africa-and-the-continent\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.globalafricasciences.org\\\/issues\\\/numero-1\\\/berber-womens-art-a-link-between-north-africa-and-the-continent\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.globalafricasciences.org\\\/fr\\\/accueil\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Series issues\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.globalafricasciences.org\\\/series-issues\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Berber Women\u2019s Art: A Link Between North Africa and the Continent\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.globalafricasciences.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.globalafricasciences.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Global Africa\",\"description\":\"Pan-African Scientific Journal\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.globalafricasciences.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.globalafricasciences.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.globalafricasciences.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Global Africa\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.globalafricasciences.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.globalafricasciences.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.globalafricasciences.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/Globalafrica.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.globalafricasciences.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/Globalafrica.png\",\"width\":1680,\"height\":750,\"caption\":\"Global Africa\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.globalafricasciences.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/globalafricasciences\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Berber Women\u2019s Art: A Link Between North Africa and the Continent | Global Africa","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/issues\/numero-1\/berber-womens-art-a-link-between-north-africa-and-the-continent\/","og_locale":"fr_FR","og_type":"article","og_title":"Berber Women\u2019s Art: A Link Between North Africa and the Continent | Global Africa","og_description":"L\u2019art des femmes berb\u00e8res est le plus ancien d\u2019Afrique du Nord. Il remonte \u00e0 l\u2019Antiquit\u00e9. Cet art a surv\u00e9cu face \u00e0 de puissantes civilisations conqu\u00e9rantes, et il est toujours vivant. Il a fascin\u00e9 et inspir\u00e9 des \u00e9rudits et des gens ordinaires, mais c\u2019est seulement \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9poque postcoloniale que des lectures s\u00e9rieuses de ces dessins ont commenc\u00e9 \u00e0 se faire jour. Interpr\u00e9t\u00e9 comme un puissant marqueur culturel, un marqueur identitaire, et comme expression f\u00e9minine, cet art a des affinit\u00e9s avec l\u2019art africain mainstream. Soutenir que l\u2019art des femmes berb\u00e8res est peut-\u00eatre le seul lien significatif subsistant entre l\u2019Afrique du Nord et le reste du continent est une revendication f\u00e9ministe. En plus de fournir une lecture de l\u2019histoire nord-africaine, il fait ressortir comment l\u2019expression artistique des femmes berb\u00e8res \u00e9claire certains aspects de la mani\u00e8re dont les communaut\u00e9s vivent et interagissent dans cette histoire. Elle met \u00e9galement en lumi\u00e8re le lien entre cette expression artistique et la codification et la stabilisation de la langue berb\u00e8re. Ce dernier point m\u00e8ne la revendication f\u00e9ministe \u00e0 un degr\u00e9 sup\u00e9rieur dans lequel on pr\u00e9sume que l\u2019art f\u00e9minin produit un savoir linguistique, un th\u00e8me jusqu\u2019ici inexploit\u00e9. De plus, en se focalisant sur l\u2019art des femmes, cet essai adopte, pour aborder l\u2019histoire sociale et la langue berb\u00e8re, un type particulier de m\u00e9thodologie f\u00e9ministe dans lequel les sources historiques sont utilis\u00e9es pour produire de la connaissance et non pas simplement pour honorer le pass\u00e9. Some of the carpet designs that women imagined and created over the centuries have been replicated in body adornments, such as henna, tattoos, and in clothing. The designs have fascinated and inspired scholars and ordinary people, but it is only in the postcolonial era that serious readings of these designs have started to become prominent. The designs have been read as cultural markers, as identity markers, and as feminine art. Illuminating as they are, these readings tend to consider the designs as legacies of feminine creativity that need to be preserved (for scholarship on cultural markers, see Boely 2000; Saulniers 2000; Samama 1996 and 2000; and Chafik 2005. For identity markers, see Ben Miled 1998; Ennaji 2006; and Chtatou 2020. For feminine art, see Jereb 1990; Mernissi 2004; and Becker 2006). In this paper, I build on these readings to present the designs as a historical archive that continues to grow. La spiritualit\u00e9 telle qu\u2019exprim\u00e9e dans les dessins des tapis f\u00e9minins Among the designs associated with women\u2019s spirituality and beliefs, the sun, the stars, the moon, and the sky loom large are related to the nature of ancient Berber religion (Herodotus [Book 4]; Ibn Khaldun Trans. by Rosenthal 1958; El Bekri 1857; Mercier 1901; Doutt\u00e9 1909; Basset 1910; and Ouachi 1985). According to the French Orientalist and linguist Ren\u00e9 Basset (1910), ancient Berbers considered the sky, the mountains, and the rivers as typical loci of divinity. The sky included the sun, the moon, and the stars, the mountains included the rocks and the caves, and the rivers included surfaces with water such as the sea and ocean. They saw the Atlas Mountains as \u201ctouching the sky\u201d and overlooking the Atlantic Ocean which derives its name from the word \u2018Atlas\u2019. The presence of these sites of divinity in weaving is an expression of the beliefs of these women and their creation of a unique cosmology that has trickled down to their families and communities, and, in the absence of documentation on Berber religions, the designs may well be the only sources to help scholars understand these expressions of human creativity and their interactions with religion and spirituality. Of particular interest here is the recurrence of triangles, horizontal lines, and circles grouped together to represent Tanit, with the circle in the upper position (head), the triangle under it (body), and a horizontal line between the two (arms). Tanit was a Berber goddess of water (rain, fertility) in ancient North Africa (Ben Miled 1998). She was the main deity of Carthage (today\u2019s Tunisia), from which her cult spread to the Mediterranean region. Tanit was also the lunar goddess and the symbol of war. Tanit has been represented in different forms, including in tajin, the traditional Berber cooking utensil, but the recurrence of the circle, horizontal line, and triangle remains striking. Significantly, the presence of the goddess Tanit in carpet designs demonstrates the importance of sexuality, procreation, and fertility in ancient Berber women\u2019s cosmology. The meanings of these designs are immortalized in the ritual of Taghunja (or tasliyt n unzar\u2014the rainbow), one of the most significant rituals in Berber communities in Morocco and across the region (Ben Miled 1998). A physical reflection of Tanit, Taghunja (a big doll with a circular head, vertical body, and horizontal arms), is held by a procession of children chanting and imploring for the coming of rain. Like the carpet designs, the ritual of Taghunja, which is still alive, is a powerful archive and a source of information on Berber women\u2019s cosmology prior to the advent of monotheistic religions. In addition to serving as a doorway to Berber women\u2019s spirituality, the carpet designs also serve as a doorway to understanding women\u2019s natural environment and daily chores, as attested in the frequency of beetles, snakes, and scorpions, as well as rivers and flowers. Beetles, snakes, and scorpions denote a rural and hot environment that is matched by a more temperate environment in which rivers are full and flowers blooming. The aesthetics that the latter design captures and the contrast between the hot and cooler environments may be indicative of the changing cycle of seasons, itself linked to the harvest cycle, which is central to Berber life and cosmology. D\u2019autres dessins montrent des tajines (ustensiles de cuisson marocains), des th\u00e9i\u00e8res et des cuill\u00e8res et servent, de ce fait, de point d\u2019entr\u00e9e \u00e0 l\u2019univers des t\u00e2ches quotidiennes f\u00e9minines. Il est important d\u2019ajouter ici qu\u2019au-del\u00e0 de leur usage pour la subsistance quotidienne, ces ustensiles symbolisent \u00e9galement l\u2019hospitalit\u00e9 berb\u00e8re et la fiert\u00e9 de la communaut\u00e9. Le tajin en particulier relie les t\u00e2ches quotidiennes f\u00e9minines \u00e0 leur divinit\u00e9, un lien","og_url":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/issues\/numero-1\/berber-womens-art-a-link-between-north-africa-and-the-continent\/","og_site_name":"Global Africa","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/globalafricasciences","article_modified_time":"2026-05-09T21:48:08+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Dur\u00e9e de lecture estim\u00e9e":"37 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/issues\/numero-1\/berber-womens-art-a-link-between-north-africa-and-the-continent\/","url":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/issues\/numero-1\/berber-womens-art-a-link-between-north-africa-and-the-continent\/","name":"Berber Women\u2019s Art: A Link Between North Africa and the Continent | Global Africa","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-03-09T08:47:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-09T21:48:08+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/issues\/numero-1\/berber-womens-art-a-link-between-north-africa-and-the-continent\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"fr-FR","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/issues\/numero-1\/berber-womens-art-a-link-between-north-africa-and-the-continent\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/issues\/numero-1\/berber-womens-art-a-link-between-north-africa-and-the-continent\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/fr\/accueil\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Series issues","item":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/series-issues\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Berber Women\u2019s Art: A Link Between North Africa and the Continent"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/","name":"Global Africa","description":"Pan-African Scientific Journal","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"fr-FR"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/#organization","name":"Global Africa","url":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-FR","@id":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Globalafrica.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Globalafrica.png","width":1680,"height":750,"caption":"Global Africa"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/globalafricasciences"]}]}},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series-issues\/26838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series-issues"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/series-issues"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"series-categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series-categories?post=26838"},{"taxonomy":"cat-articles","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cat-articles?post=26838"},{"taxonomy":"keywords","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/keywords?post=26838"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalafricasciences.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=26838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}