MY HERITAGE TATTOOS RECONNECTED ME WITH MY ALGERIAN ROOTS
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Berber Tattooing: Exploring Amazigh Tattoo Culture and Moroccan Women’s Face Tattoos (Book)
Berber tattoos, also referred to as Amazigh tattoos, serve as a vibrant reflection of the diverse cultural heritage of North Africa's indigenous Berber population. These meticulously crafted and captivating tattoos transcend mere skin-deep artistry; they function as vessels embodying the rich tapestry of heritage, social standing, and personal narratives seamlessly interwoven into the very fabric of Berber identity.
With a historical lineage stretching back millennia, the Berber people have fostered a profound connection with the natural world. Within the realm of Berber tattoos, this deep affinity manifests through a striking array of symbolic depictions, each laden with profound meanings that resonate with life, belief systems, and pivotal moments.
Nature assumes a central role in the realm of Berber tattoos, where symbols bear the imprint of animals, plants, and celestial bodies. The towering palm tree, symbolizing strength, growth, and resilience, serves as a potent representation of life and prosperity deeply ingrained in Berber culture. Likewise, the snake, embodying a guardian spirit, symbolizes wisdom and healing, acting as a protective force against malevolent influences and ushering in good fortune.
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Drawing from ancient Egyptian iconography, the Berber people adopted the Eye of Horus, a potent symbol believed to ward off evil and usher in good luck. Equally significant is the Hand of Fatima, an open palm that serves as a protective talisman against the evil eye and negative energies.
The Amazigh Cross, often referred to as the “Agadez Cross,” serves as a compass of sorts, offering guidance and orientation during travels and life’s journeys. In the vibrant world of Berber tattoos, women play a central role, embodying themes of fertility, femininity, and the enduring legacy of the tribe.
Berber tattoos are not mere embellishments; they are markers of life’s milestones and rites of passage. For young Berber girls, their first tattoos, often received during puberty, symbolize the transition into womanhood and eligibility for marriage. These tattoos bear not only ink but the weight of cultural identity and pride.
The complexity and number of tattoos worn can also signify an individual’s standing within the community. Leaders and elders, with their wealth of wisdom and life experiences, may display more intricate and elaborate tattoos.
From “Berber Tattooing: Exploring Amazigh Tattoo Culture and Moroccan Women’s Face Tattoos”, illustrated by Mohammed Jiari
In recent times, there has been a renaissance of interest in Berber tattoos. Efforts to preserve and reinvigorate this ancient art form have borne fruit. Modern-day artists and tattoo enthusiasts explore the depths of Berber symbolism, infusing tradition with innovation to create contemporary designs that pay homage to the past.
This resurgence is not only about the art itself but also about nurturing cultural pride and identity among the Berber community. These timeless designs remain a vibrant and integral part of Berber heritage, ensuring that the symbolic meanings of Berber tattoos continue to thrive, enchanting and resonating with generations to come.
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Research | Amazigh Facial Tattooing : A Dying Tradition
via Morocco World News
The traditional Amazigh face tattoos are a social phenomenon that was an integral part of the their traditions. Customarily, women would tattoo their bodies for beauty, health and protection. The markings, tattooed on Amazigh girls beginning at a young age, acted as a rite of passage. After an Amazigh girl was tattooed, she became a woman with the potential of motherhood.
It punctuated the lives of individuals and commemorated the most important episodes in the lives of men and women and their community. The Berber face tattoo anchored beliefs and the pagan rites of the past in their customs. In North Africa, the tradition of tattooing dates to pre-Islamic times, and Amazigh populations across Morocco have practiced it consistently since then.
How the face tattoo was made differs from place to place. The most common was to cut the skin with a blade (healing tattoos usually used a knife) or a needle then rub with the kohl ash. In the spring, wheat shoots are picked, chewed and then crushed to extract a green juice. This juice is spread onto the tattoo to help it heal and that is how the tattoos become green in colour.
Tattoos followed Amazigh women throughout their lives. The first facial tattoo is called the “siyala” and is placed on the chin for fertility. At an early age, women also applied tattoos to protect from death and disease. Along with important milestones, such as with the onset of puberty or for fertility, women received more tattoos. Tattoos were also used to convey one’s social or marital status and portray beauty. Later in life, if a woman’s social status changed, her tattoos would evolve with them. If a woman was widowed, she may have a tattoo from one ear to the other, symbolizing the beard of her dead husband.
Many tattoo symbols have relationships with vegetation. The palm tree is a common facial tattoo, drawn as a straight line surrounded by dots that represent seeds. It is placed between the bottom lip and chin of a woman as a “siyala.” The tattoo correlates with the Carthaginian goddess Tanit, who is the fertility, war, and lunar goddess to the Amazigh people. The tattoo is regarded as one of the most beautiful symbols a woman could have on her face.
Tattoos relating to the animal world are correlated with female sexuality. Additionally, tattoos with diamond shapes, such as the eye or flower, were seen as a source of protection against evil spirits. One of the most important facets of the designs was the way they connected women as they were passed from mother to daughter and between generations.
However, when asked about the purpose of their tattoos in interviews, many tattooed women and their family members insist that the purpose was solely decoration and to make them beautiful.
Amazigh women with tattoos today were born in a time when tattoos were highly encouraged, celebrated, and an integral part of their lives. Within their lifetimes, the women witnessed an unexpected transformation within Morocco and North Africa, where their tattoos, which once made them sought after, became a source of shame. This could be for a few reasons; society post Arabo-Islamic culture, women tattooed at a young age felt that it was not their choice and lacked cultural understanding, and so did not pass it down to their daughters, and finally due to the taboos of modern Islam, women need to remove their tattoos before going to Mecca for pilgrimage and French colonial occupation are some factors.
The role of tattoos began to shift at the beginning of the 20th century with the French occupation of Morocco. For some Amazigh women, the occupation encouraged them to get tattoos, since they believed that the tattoos could protect them from rape. During the time of the French colonization, women used tattoos to show their independence and exert freedom. The tattoos were also used to inspire Moroccan men to work harder. The French established brothels around Morocco and abducted Amazigh women from rural regions to work as prostitutes in these brothels. Since many of the Amazigh women had tattoos, a relationship grew between prostitution and facial tattoos. Slowly, Moroccan society began to judge women with facial tattoos, associating them with prostitution.
Most Amazigh had adopted the Islamic religion for over a millennium, so the practice of tattooing was reduced a long time ago because it’s against the ethics and Muslim orthodoxy as Islam forbids tattooing, even though it’s not mentioned in the Quran. The interpretation and the prohibition of tattooing or any other modification of the body is passed on by the hadith, which are stories from the Prophet and are a major source of guidance for Muslims. As of writing this, the tattooed elderly Amazigh women of today are the last generation to have taken part in the tradition.
Despite the prohibitions, the practice of tattooing lasted commonly until the 60s, and still nowadays is practiced in some areas where the culture is still conserved, especially in the desert and Atlas Mountains. In most areas however, henna is used as a non permanent alternative. In regions where city standards are struggling to be adopted, the nomads, and the semi-nomad are living in harsh conditions and roaming the country according to the harvests, water and pasture. Here is where this Amazigh ancestral tradition of face tattoos continues.
I came across this rabbit hole while researching traditional Moroccan fashion, and found it fascinating. This is a perfect opportunity to add depth to my character and more insight into the backstory of my character without writing a thing about it in the book.
References
Brumfitt, L. (2022). Berber Face Tattoos - why they’ve been reduced to a memory? [online] Tiziri Camp. Available at: https://www.tiziricamp.com/berber-face-tattoos-why-theyve-been-reduced-to-a-memory/.
McCabe, C. (2019). The Disappearing Tradition of Amazigh Facial and Body Tattoos. [online] https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/. Available at: https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/04/269903/tradition-amazigh-facial-tattoos.
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Berber Face Tattoos
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Africans have been decorating themselves with paint or pigment since at least 4000 B.C., when people in SUDAN used ocher as a cosmetic. Ancient Egyptians used cosmetics as well, enhancing their lips and cheeks with red coloring. Men, women, and children in EGYPT wore eye paint, or kohl, on both their upper and lower eyelids. In addition to being considered beautiful, kohl helped protect the eyes from insects and the glare of the sun. Body paint also functions as a sign of social status and ethnic background and as part of many African rituals. Turkana men in KENYA cake their hair with clay and red coloring to celebrate a successful hunt or the end of planting. In many parts of the continent, decorating the body with white clay represents spirituality. Ceremonies marking a new stage in life often involve body painting. Young Dan women from IVORY COAST, for example, paint themselves with bold geometric patterns during rituals that mark the passage from girlhood to womanhood.
Other types of body decoration practiced in Africa are also permanent. In North Africa, some Bedouin and BERBER tribes mark their faces with tattoos. Berber tattoos often indicate membership in a particular group and are modeled after ancient Libyan script. Some East African peoples beautify themselves by extracting certain teeth or by filing or chipping their teeth into sharp points. Other groups pierce holes in their lips and earlobes and then gradually stretch them by inserting larger and larger plugs or plates.
Clothing:
Long ago Africans dressed in skins, woven grass and raffia, leaves, and cloth made of tree bark. Today such items are used only in a few places or during certain ceremonies. The Kuba people of CONGO (KINSHASA) still produce the embroidered raffia shirts with geometric patterns that both men and women used to wear for rituals and public events. However, today the main function of these shirts is to dress the dead at funerals. Most Africans wear garments of woven cotton cloth. Men appear in a wide variety of smocks and robes. Rural men in Egypt and Sudan may wear the jellaba, an ankle-length robe with sleeves and side pockets, made to be worn over a shirt. A similar long, loose robe is the dishdasha, used by both men and women in ALGERIA.
My main male character for my story Takeshi has lots of patterns on his body, and on his planet there are tribes, but not like these. Each tribe has a certain colour markings, and once one of them has ‘married’ if it’s a girl that married then her marking’s becomes the colour of her ‘husband’ and if it the man who’s ‘marrying’ then his ‘wife’ markings becomes his colours. If it’s a man and a man ‘marrying’ then their colours mix, which is the same if a woman and a woman ‘marry’ then their colours also mix. These markings they’re born with and everyone on that planet has the same marking other then the woman who don’t have rings around their arms unless they’re ‘married’ then they have 1 ring from their ��husband.’ If they’re two women getting ‘married’ then neither of them get a ring. I think having these markings on your skin is quite cool, but I wanted my character to have them differently because they are from an alien planet, and I thought it would be cool if they were born with them.
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Antalya Kuaför
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Picture by @sundusphotography // Ilayda Kaplan
IG: sundus.pht
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Capturing the Stunning Faces of Morocco
MAY 21, 2014 ⦿ 11:05 AM
BY JORDAN G. TEICHER
French-Moroccan artist Leila Alaoui has always been fascinated by the rich ethnic and cultural diversity of her native country. Inspired by the aesthetic and approach of Robert Frank’s The Americans and Richard Avedon’s In the American West, she started traveling through Morocco with her portable portrait studio, documenting the people she met along the way. Her ongoing project, “The Moroccans,” is a celebration of her countrymen and heritage. Alaoui’s project is complicated by the fact that Moroccans are particularly apprehensive about being photographed. “Most Moroccans grow up hearing stories of witchcraft and are often afraid of the ‘evil eye.’ It is commonly believed that one can throw a spell at someone by using his or her photograph,” Alaoui said via email. “Moroccans are also tired of being photographed by Westerners as ‘exotic’ subjects and have grown to react aggressively towards anyone who wants to photograph them without permission.”
Undeterred, Alaoui has embarked on about 20 road trips across the country in the last few years, traveling through the Atlas Mountains, the Rif Mountains, the Sahara, and a variety of coastal and inland regions of Morocco including Essaouira, Tangier, and Marrakech. In each location, Alaoui sets up her portable studio in public places, markets, and other private gatherings after spending a few days getting to know the locals. “I believe that being a Moroccan photographer makes people feel a bit more comfortable once they feel they knew me a bit more,” she said.
Alaoui photographs anyone who passes by her studio or asks about her project. She prints a small photo on site with a portable printer and then distributes the photos to all the people she photographs. “Sometimes if I see interesting faces walking by, I run after them and try to convince them to do a photo. But they usually don’t accept,” she said.
Morocco’s geographical diversity gives each region distinct traditions and lifestyles. Part of Alaoui’s intention is to capture some of those characteristics, some of which are disappearing as the country continues to develop. “In most Berber villages, for example, baby girls were given face tattoos so people could recognize to which tribe they belonged. Today, there are very few women with these tattoos,” Alaoui said.
Alaoui’s photographs are on display in the Photomed Festival in Sanary-sur-Mer, France, until June 15.
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ELIZABETH WHYTE SCHULZEAll works are coiled basketry construction and made with pine needles, raffia, acrylic paint, Japanese sumi paper and antique brushes
https://elizabethwhyteschulze.com/
https://4forart.com/elizabeth-whyte-schulze
Artist Statement (March 2021)
"My basketry sculptures tell a story of my travels and celebrates the importance of women in today’s world.My 2020/21 artwork is informed by a tour of Morocco in 2019. One of the most striking revelations was seeing the large variety of carpets being woven by the country’s artisans. I was to learn that all the weavers are women and live in small mountain villages. The beautiful carpets are sold in the markets of Morocco’s port cities providing important financial support to the women and their families while preserving their weaving tradition.
The Berber women of the Sahara express their creativity by adorning their faces and hands with intricate tattoos. Morocco is a country bursting with artisan-ship. Homes and mosques feature colorful tile work covering floors, walls and ceilings. Surrounded by the abundance of design it was easy for me to find ways of including the country’s influences into stories for my recent basket series. The viewer will see women from all walks of life gather together while in the background carpet designs and colorful tiles fill an archway or decorate a wall. Tattoos embellish figures whose faces often have a mask-like design acknowledging the Covid threat. My artwork presents a complex landscape that is visually challenging and personally satisfying."
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Fremen Stillsuit Concept
I read all the Dune books last year. What started as a casual interest turned into a full blown obsession and I cannot wait to see what Dennis Villeneuve has planned for the new movie.
I looked at medical illustrations of the human blood circulation and our muscles to base the stillsuit around that. I imagine it to look like an exoskeleton for humans.
The face Tattoos are inspired by the traditional tattoos of Berber women.
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Berber Palm Tree Tattoo Motif Silver Pendant hand carved by Moon and Serpent.
Berbers, a tribe from North Africa, still conserving some of their animistic ideas, believe that tattoos possess sacred energy of Baraka, the supernatural presence in them. Berber palm tree motifs were generally inked on the chin and symbolized fertility, the origin of the symbol said to be the Carthaginian goddess Tanit, connected to goddess Ishtar (Hellen Astarte and Roman Caelestis).
Vanishing Tattoos Collection
Traditional tattoo art of the indigenous world is dying with the last practitioners passing away and it is very important to document this form of art before it vanishes. To preserve and cherish the tribal ink art, I started to create a collection which will cover indigenous tattoo motifs from all over the world. These motifs as they are talismans in skin, they will continue to live as talismans in brass, silver or gold.
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Tattoo history
Decoration of a human body is an old tradition (more than 12,000 years old) and it was done through history for different reasons. People used it is a method of healing, as rebelling, as punishment, as a way of self-expression and as a way of religious worship.
Tattoos have a wide range of cultural, historical, and personal meanings. As tattoos have a historical and cultural sense of being “for tough guys”, an insecure person might acquire tattoos as a way of fostering their masculinity or toughness.
In terms of tattoos on actual bodies, the earliest known examples were for a long time Egyptian and were present on several female mummies dated to c. 2000 B.C. But following the more recent discovery of the Iceman from the area of the Italian-Austrian border in 1991 and his tattoo patterns, this date has been pushed back a further thousand years when he was carbon-dated at around 5,200 years old.
Mummies found with tattoos were usually dismissed by the (male) excavators who seemed to assume the women were of "dubious status," described in some cases as "dancing girls." The female mummies had nevertheless been buried at Deir el-Bahari (opposite modern Luxor) in an area associated with royal and elite burials, and we know that at least one of the women described as "probably a royal concubine" was actually a high-status priestess named Amunet, as revealed by her funerary inscriptions. It may well be that the older women of a community would create the tattoos for the younger women, as happened in 19th-century Egypt and happens in some parts of the world today.
Among the numerous ancient cultures who appear to have used tattooing as a permanent form of body adornment, the Nubians to the south of Egypt are known to have used tattoos. Accounts of the ancient Britons likewise suggest they too were tattooed as a mark of high status, and with "divers shapes of beasts" tattooed on their bodies, the Romans named one northern tribe "Picti," literally "the painted people." Extensive facial and body tattooing used among Native Americans, such as the Cree, the mummified bodies of a group of six Greenland Inuit women c. A.D. 1475 also revealed evidence for facial tattooing.
Modern Japanese tattoos are real works of art, with many modern practioners, while the highly skilled tattooists of Samoa continue to create their art as it was carried out in ancient times, prior to the invention of modern tattooing equipment. Various cultures throughout Africa also employ tattoos, including the fine dots on the faces of Berber women in Algeria, the elaborate facial tattoos of Wodabe men in Niger and the small crosses on the inner forearms which mark Egypt's Christian Copts.
In the Maori culture of New Zealand, the head was considered the most important part of the body, with the face embellished by incredibly elaborate tattoos or ‘moko,’ which were regarded as marks of high status. Each tattoo design was unique to that individual and since it conveyed specific information about their status, rank, ancestry and abilities, it has accurately been described as a form of id card or passport, a kind of aesthetic bar code for the face.
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