A site-specific installation on the rooftop of the Kattanine Fondouk, a historical building located in the world UNESCO Heritage site Fes El Bali.
The project was the culmination of a one-month cultural exchange program, Morocco: Crafting the City. This program is the start of a two-year pilot project by RISD and the Ministry of Handicrafts, Solidarity and Social Economy of Morocco. During my time in Morocco, we collaborated with La Maison de l’Artisan in Fes and had the amazing opportunity to learn and practice the traditional crafts with the local artisans.
A visual response to the everyday scene of the hanging laundry on the rooftops in Fes Medina, the installation takes on the form of several paper cutouts pinned to a slender string with each of its end tied to an upright bamboo stick, juxtaposed with the cityscape in the background. The pattern designs of the paper cutouts are inspired by the vibrant urban fabric of the medina.
Details:
Inspiration:
Rooftops and Hanging Laundry_
The myriad thoughts and associations dancing and swirling in my mind.
(The following text is a mind map I created when I began to develop my project.)
(The following text is a mind map I created when I began to develop my project.)
A parallel_between the almost mundane activity of sunning the laundry and the knowledge being passed on of traditional crafts from generation to generation
Internalized wisdom_a process that suggests continuity and transformation at the same time
There's something poetic about it.
Time_waiting_subject to weather_humbleness_grace from nature
My heart was moved by it_in the most secretive and incomprehensible way. Could it be the perfect angle of the sunshine that day?
The medina is silently breathing through the billowing fabrics.
Laundry_hidden and private in the U.S._most of the people use dryers
Putting the laundry out_a gesture of trust and genuineness_a feeling of community
Internalized wisdom_a process that suggests continuity and transformation at the same time
There's something poetic about it.
Time_waiting_subject to weather_humbleness_grace from nature
My heart was moved by it_in the most secretive and incomprehensible way. Could it be the perfect angle of the sunshine that day?
The medina is silently breathing through the billowing fabrics.
Laundry_hidden and private in the U.S._most of the people use dryers
Putting the laundry out_a gesture of trust and genuineness_a feeling of community
Design Process:
My experience with wood painting at the artisan center sparked my interest in creating
the paper cutouts. I was fascinated when Master Ali Jazoui showed us the intricately
designed stencils and how, with a single dab of flour, the pattern was translated onto the
wooden panel-and there began all the meticulous drawing, coloring and outlining. And
despite the fact that we were all using the same stencil in the beginning, our final paintings
looked so drastically different from one another because of the different color combinations we chose, the different characteristics of the lines we drew, and the different dots and decorative patterns we decided to put on. Therefore, the stencils, for me, are the starting points, the origins, of a craft, a process that is deeply embedded in the tradition but always rejuvenates itself.
the paper cutouts. I was fascinated when Master Ali Jazoui showed us the intricately
designed stencils and how, with a single dab of flour, the pattern was translated onto the
wooden panel-and there began all the meticulous drawing, coloring and outlining. And
despite the fact that we were all using the same stencil in the beginning, our final paintings
looked so drastically different from one another because of the different color combinations we chose, the different characteristics of the lines we drew, and the different dots and decorative patterns we decided to put on. Therefore, the stencils, for me, are the starting points, the origins, of a craft, a process that is deeply embedded in the tradition but always rejuvenates itself.
I was amazed by both the artistic and symbolic beauty of the craft (as well as all the other
crafts I’ve seen here). Therefore, the paper cutouts were my attempts to create my own
stencils-they are the embodiment of my aspiration to understand more about the craft as well
a metaphor of a starting point to something, something that is yet to be known.
crafts I’ve seen here). Therefore, the paper cutouts were my attempts to create my own
stencils-they are the embodiment of my aspiration to understand more about the craft as well
a metaphor of a starting point to something, something that is yet to be known.
Logistically, each paper cutout is the size of the wooden panel used for wood painting.
The dimensions of the central designs correspond with those of the existing ones. In terms
of the content of my pattern designs, I am interested in the ideas of repetition, overlapping,
and geometric transformation in traditional Moroccan zouaq painting. Also inspired by the
structure and organization of the zellige designs, I experimented with framing, drawing,
juxtaposing details of the cityscape of Fes Medina and created patterns that visually expand
and contract. I really appreciated the analogy made by Peter Sacks in his travelogue
between Fes Medina and traditional Moroccan tileworks. Taking on the ideas of adjacency,
sophistication, and incompletion, I want the relationship of the repeated individual sections
to the entirety of my designs to be an overarching metaphor for the urban fabric.
The dimensions of the central designs correspond with those of the existing ones. In terms
of the content of my pattern designs, I am interested in the ideas of repetition, overlapping,
and geometric transformation in traditional Moroccan zouaq painting. Also inspired by the
structure and organization of the zellige designs, I experimented with framing, drawing,
juxtaposing details of the cityscape of Fes Medina and created patterns that visually expand
and contract. I really appreciated the analogy made by Peter Sacks in his travelogue
between Fes Medina and traditional Moroccan tileworks. Taking on the ideas of adjacency,
sophistication, and incompletion, I want the relationship of the repeated individual sections
to the entirety of my designs to be an overarching metaphor for the urban fabric.
