Zindhek with Contrasting Squares
Zindheks represent the most basic utilitarian weaving of Morocco’s material culture. Woven with recycled and/or industrial fibres (more rarely with wool) by hooking the yarn through a plastic foundation, these are employed in a variety of ways, from easily transportable prayer mats, to saddle blankets as well as various other types of covers. Their designs are among the most creative and as diverse as one can find. Here we see a pattern that could have easily been conceived by a Bauhaus artist, the square field being subdivided into squares of contrasting colours, with an overlaid central square reserve. The tasteful chromatic juxtapositions show how Moroccan women were putting great effort towards achieving beauty even in the simplest of weavings, using whatever material they had available.