Anzal’s Siroua Peaks Hand-Knot

This Women-Only Association is located in the Village of Anzal, about 30 kilometers north of the popular weaving town, Tazenakht. The Anzal collective was founded in 2007 and is kept alive by women passing the craft down through the generations. Saida, the President of the Association, is our liaison for all our custom orders.

We met the women of Anzal in 2019 on a special day for the Association. After sharing a small space with a men’s Association, the women were finally moving into a bigger space, just for them. The night before our visit, the women had blessed and celebrated the new space with a prayer and a meal of homemade couscous. We were the final visitors to purchase in the old space. The women of the Association told us that our visit answered their prayers for a successful start to their new journey.

The Low Hand-Knot style of rug most often comes from the southeastern Tribes in and around the Siroua region. The pile of these rugs is much shorter than the Hand-Knot rugs from the north. Despite the shorter pile, these pieces are still quite plush and cozy.

One significant difference in technique with this rug is the artisans usually pre-cut the wool prior to weaving on the loom, while the women in the north cut the wool after looping it around the loom.