Terres de berberie: A documentary film from ππ΅π²π¬ about Kabyle pottery. A craft reserved exclusively for the women of yesteryear.
Presentation of the entire manual manufacturing process: from harvesting the clay to firing, shaping and decorating, set to a musical background by “Igor Bouchene “.
Summary:
“Traditional pottery is made by women in Kabyle villages. Tasked with the task of collecting water, the women use jugs, jars and amphorae that they make from terracotta. Mixed with shards of old pottery and sifted, the clay is moistened to obtain a homogeneous paste. The women flatten, smooth and polish the future pottery with their bare hands. Using goat’s hair and red ochre, Kabyle women draw geometric and symmetrical figures handed down by tradition. A rudimentary kiln holds the pottery, which sometimes breaks during firing. True objets d’art, the pottery is preserved in Algiers museums, testifying to the richness of Kabyle culture.”
Production: Studios Africa; Films Ibis, 1960
Racine
In Kabylia, the art of pottery (modeling, firing, decorating) is traditionally reserved for women, whereas tile-making is a male preserve. Today, however, pottery is practiced more by men than by women.
Its rudimentary manufacturing techniques and its rural and exclusively feminine character (for a long time) make Kabyle pottery a craft activity that stands out from the other Mediterranean productions it seems to have preceded.
The raw material is clay, of different colors depending on the deposit, fired at relatively low temperatures. The pottery is characterized by purity of form, simplicity of decoration and complexity of motif, with signs and symbols dating back to the Neolithic period (9000 to 4000 BC). There are numerous decorative motifs (lattices, grids, parallel, broken and crossed lines, triangles). These graphic signs, featuring the same basic motifs, are one of the distinctive features of Kabyle pottery and, according to some, constitute an esoteric script, the residue of a very ancient original script that is itself the source of Mediterranean scripts.
While pottery is most often utilitarian in nature and used daily in the home (dishes, pots, jugs, kettles, oil lamps, children’s toys), it also has a religious or superstitious purpose, notably when adorning the mausoleums of saints and spirits. During ritual ceremonies (receptions, births, weddings), they ensure that events run smoothly and convey strong religious symbolism. For circumcision or wedding celebrations, the dish, candlestick and gargoulette (a porous terracotta vessel designed to cool the liquid it contains) are offered as a set. These three objects are then kept for life and cannot be lent or sold. For weddings, imposing oil lamps with 5 to 7 spouts are carried in front of the bridal procession. Traditionally, in order to ward off the evil eye, the dish used to cook the galettes was placed on the roof of the bride’s or new-born baby’s house, so that they would be spared illness.
While there used to be many production centers in Kabylia, this craft practice is now under threat, and know-how could gradually disappear, as young people tend to abandon this activity for lack of sufficient economic prospects, or move abroad for lack of local jobs.