Cloak (akhnif), late 19th century–early 20th century, goat hair and wool, 160 x 181 cm (Newark Museum of Art)
This brown wool cape with a red eye-shaped design was woven by Amazigh women living in the Sirwa region of central Morocco sometime in the 19th to early 20th century. Called an akhnif (plural: ikhnafen), its thick sheep’s wool protected the man who wore it from the harsh winters and rainy summers that characterize this mountainous region. Both Muslim and Jewish men would have worn this cape layered on top of a large piece of cloth wrapped around the body (haik) and/or a hooded gown with sleeves (jellaba), so that the akhnif was only one part of the entire dress ensemble.
Map showing the Sirwa region in Morocco (underlying map © Google)
A Moroccan Jew wearing an akhnif, c. 1940s, photographed by Jean Besancenot (The Israel Museum, Jerusalem)
A practical garment
The Sirwa region, located at the junction of the High Atlas and Anti-Atlas Mountain ranges, is home to an Amazigh group known as Ait Wawzgit (also spelled Ouaouzguite). Wealth and status were determined by the size of one’s flock of sheep and goats, from which women wove textiles for clothing and household use. The shape and materials of an akhnif made it a practical garment that was worn by men. Sheep in the area are known for their high-quality wool, which women sometimes mixed with goat’s hair. These materials made the garment impermeable to water and provided warmth in the winter. Its wide shape meant that it could be wrapped around the body of a crouching shepherd, traveler, or anyone else who spent considerable time in the open air. Because the front was fastened with a few stitches, the akhnif could be draped behind its wearer in warm weather. [1]
Akhnif, before 1921, wool, 175 x 284 cm (The Textile Museum, Washington, D.C.)
The most characteristic feature of this garment is the orange or red oculus said to protect from the evil eye. The evil eye is a widespread belief characterized as an intense look accompanied by a compliment, perceived to cause physical pain due to the association of flattery with envy and jealousy. The large red eye-shaped design protects the wearer from harm but draws attention to the garment and absorbs the negative energy of an onlooker’s jealous gaze. As a prestigious textile, a father would pass his akhnif to his son, and when not in use it could be locked in a collective granary (agadir), used to store agricultural products and other valuables.
Akhnif, before 1921, wool, 175 x 284 cm (The Textile Museum, Washington, D.C.)
European fascination
Since the early 20th century, the akhnif has fascinated visitors to Morocco. While similar capes were worn elsewhere, they were not collected because they were not as embellished as the akhnif. These highly collectible textiles were one of the few distinctive items of male attire commonly referenced by early travelers to Morocco. For example, the French missionary Charles de Foucauld observed on his 1883–84 visit to Taznakht, a weekly market located in the Sirwa region, that the akhnif was actively made and traded there. [2] As a result, the akhnif is probably the most widely collected Amazigh textile and is found in most major museums around the world, including the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard, The Art Institute of Chicago, the Newark Museum, The Metropolitan Museum, Musée du Quai Branly in Paris, and the National Museum of World Cultures in the Netherlands.
The akhnif largely went out of fashion in the early 20th century, because the amount of labor required to weave one and the expense of the wool were considerable, and people began to purchase imported clothing in the market. [3] However, it was during this period that the French colonial administration tried to revive the production of the akhnif for the tourist market, with little success. Women preferred to make carpets instead, as they required less skill and could be quickly produced and sold in the tourist market, resulting in more financial gain.
Amazigh textiles today
Although the akhnif is rarely woven today, weavers across Morocco are still honored and respected for their association with this culturally significant craft. Handwoven textiles produced by women on vertical looms grant them a great deal of societal respect and self-pride. The motifs and designs that commonly decorated the akhnif and other Amazigh textiles across northern Africa are understood as protective symbols or as motifs that were derived from the natural environment and are associated with fertility and abundance.
An example of a vertical loom (photo: © Cynthia Becker)
The act of weaving itself is also imbued with positive meanings. The wool used by Amazigh women is associated with prosperity, fertility of the land, and God’s blessings (baraka). Women who work wool in Morocco are highly respected, and a common saying in Morocco is that a woman who makes forty carpets during her lifetime receives the ultimate blessing: she is guaranteed passage to heaven after her death. There is also an association between childbirth and female creativity. In some areas, when the warp threads are attached to the vertical loom, the textile is said to be metaphorically born and have a “soul,” and weavers physically straddle the warp threads and beams of the loom before they are raised, symbolizing the metaphoric birth of the textile. When a textile is finished and its warp threads are cut, women splash it with water and say a prayer, just as Muslims wash the dead before burial. Hence, women not only have the power of life but the personification of the textile underlines women’s reproductive and creative powers.
Amazigh weaver Fatima Ouadderrou working on a vertical loom, 2023 (photo: © Cynthia Becker)
Amazigh textiles have adapted and changed in response to increased trade with Europe, environmental degradation, and formal education for women. Inexpensive and easy-to-use synthetic imported dyes have largely replaced the use of natural materials to color textiles. Many young women prefer to concentrate on their studies rather than learn the weaving arts, which they deem old-fashioned and outdated. While some women continue to weave for their families, they increasingly make textiles for the tourist market. In areas where desertification is rampant and wool increasingly rare, women often make textiles from repurposed pieces of fabric. While women across northern Africa have responded to societal changes with a great deal of inventiveness, the weaving of textiles continues to enhance their status within their communities and brings them a sense of pride.
