Urban textile traditions of Tunisia

African Arts, Autumn, 2004 by Christopher Spring, Julie Hudson

A similar story may explain the use of the name biskri, given to the most prestigious cloth woven on Djerba Island. The name derives from the town of Biskra in Algeria, though whether the first weavers of biskri had emigrated from Algeria to Djerba or whether Djerban weavers simply imitated the design of a (possibly defunct) type of cloth woven in Biskra, and perhaps traded to Djerba via Libya, remains a subject of future research.

It is a fairly reliable rule of thumb that whatever is made in a town or village and its hinterland will find its way into the local market. There are undoubtedly textiles and items of dress, particularly in rural Tunisia, that are not commercially produced, but that are made specifically for domestic, ceremonial, or ritual use and are worn only on particular occasions. Nonetheless, the covered suqs of larger towns and the weekly open-air markets of smaller towns and villages are good places to assess the existence of lively textile traditions by observing not only what is for sale, but also what people are wearing. Textiles worn or sold in such situations may be considered too mundane, uninteresting, or modern for inclusion in the local museum, but to the ethnographer they are of immense interest. However, it is one thing to observe textiles being displayed in a museum or being worn and sold by local people, and quite another to find out where and how they are produced, the meaning and significance of their pattern and design, and the history and development of the tradition.

Tunis and the North

A number of the small towns and villages close to Tunis on the north and northeast coast of Tunisia have developed their own unique traditions of fine embroidery. The ceremonial and everyday tunics of Raf Raf take the same basic form, with a striped or checked cotton base, open front, and short sleeves. They are characterized by vivid colors, often edged in black by densely worked plastrons and in particular by net sleeves with wool embroidery. The tunic worn on the third day of marriage by the Raf Raf bride is known as mwashma ("tattooed"; Fig. 4) due to the resemblance between the embroidered motifs and the designs painted in henna onto women's hands. Popular good luck symbols such as the fish, crescent, star, and birds are frequently included in the embroidery.

One of the most splendid examples of urban dress in Tunisia is the kadrun (Fig. 6), a black wool-gauze robe worn by the women of Hammamet. The austerity of this tailored garment is balanced by the magnificence of the goldwork paneling around the front opening. The sleeves are turned back to reveal the colored silk lining, which is elaborately decorated with flat gold thread (tal) and bands of gold openwork (barmaqli). The initial designs for the patterning of the goldwork decoration on the kadrun are drawn by the rassama, a woman who might take up to a fortnight to complete her intricate work. White cotton trousers (sirwal) and blouses (suriya), always with fine embroidery and crochet work, are other distinctive garments worn by the women of Hammamet.