Traditional Moroccan Craft Apprenticeships: Then and Now

Join VAWAA Artist and multidisciplinary craftsman Hamza for a talk on traditional Moroccan craft apprenticeships and its changing landscape. On Saturday, April 18, at 10:00 AM EDT (UTC-4), we'll start from a paradigm of sacred knowledge, in which the traditional knowledge transfer that occurs within the guild mirrors that in the religious context, where God, the ultimate source of truth, transmits knowledge down through a hierarchy of angels, prophets, disciples, saints and believers. Likewise in the crafts, God the source of beauty transfers this down to humans, through prophets, masters and apprentices. The talk will discuss the changing landscape of craft apprenticeships in Morocco in three main periods: Pre-Colonial: (----/1912), French Colonial: (1912/1956), and Post-Colonial (1956/----).

How to join

We'll be hosting this VAWAA Online on Zoom. We'll send you the link and details to join via email a few hours before it begins.

About Hamza

Hamza is an Andalusian Oud musician, a geometer, brass-smith, bookbinder, paper-maker, paper-marbler and founder of a crafts studio dedicated to Moroccan arts and crafts in Fes. He comes from a multigenerational family of artisans and passing on crafts knowledge is a family culture. He apprenticed under his father and traveled around 15 countries crafting and learning from masters. Now his mission is to continue this legacy and help people around the world connect with old Moroccan crafts. His traditional art revolves around the art of Compass & Ruler. With those two instruments, he draws and traces Moorish and Islamic geometric patterns, etches and engraves them on brass and copper trays and embosses them on leather book covers.

Visit his artist page to learn more about his in-person VAWAA.

Sessions are ticketed to support artists, makers and our small team. If you’re experiencing financial hardship, please reach out. We may have a generous participant who has paid it forward and would ask that you pay the love forward by sharing online sessions with 3 new friends.