Among the Kabyle Berber cultures of northern Algeria, traditional handmade ceramics are a female artform. These vessels were developed to be primarily functional, for cooking, serving, and storing food, but they illustrate aesthetic sensibilities in their graceful, well-proportioned forms. The ceramics are also hand-painted with a variety of intricate geometric motifs and designs that likely reflect patterns in woven textiles, which were also primarily developed by women in these cultures.

Ceramic techniques and preferences have long been handed down from mother to daughter and shared among larger families, and each community eventually developed its own identifiable shapes, forms, and painted details. Particularly well-formed and well-decorated Kabyle Berber ceramics are also used in ritual and religious contexts such as weddings, and they function as exchange goods among neighboring communities.  Researched by Mollie Williams

 

For more information, you may contact the researcher(s) noted in the title of this exhibit entry, or Dr. Billie Follensbee, the professor of the course, at BillieFollensbee@MissouriState.edu