Our year of impact

Photo: Creative Tunisia

Needless to say that 2020 was a special year. Looking back, we can conclude that the world was not easy and it should come as no surprise that it was not a happy year for Fair Fabrics. Despite the interior industry and Fair Fabrics doing relatively well in this crazy year, our biggest concerns were mainly behind the scenes. At our producers in the various countries there were complete lockdowns, which meant that all workshops had to be closed. Because in addition to all international customers, all income from the local, often tourist market, also disappeared.

“It is precisely under these circumstances that our impact is greatest and therefore extra important.”

Fair Fabrics was forced to take a break in the spring, because there was no production, but also no transport. As soon as was possible again, we put our shoulders to the wheel by 200% and made every effort to restart the chain carefully. We are impressed by the resilience of our workshops in the different countries and thank our patient customers too!

We prefer to focus on the positive and inspiring examples around us, where we would like to tell about Naima’s weaving workshop at the end of this year.

Wool rug NRC artisan and Karin Tunisia

Niama and Karin Kandt from Fair Fabrics Photo: Moncef Ben Rajeb

A few years ago, we first met Naima, at a craft fair in Tunisia’s capital, Tunis. There she distinguished herself with her patterns and use of color from many other professional workshops. Her distinct combinations and different designs prompted us to get to know her further and to hear more about her working method and her personal life.

Naima comes from northwestern Tunisia, where she has worked as a rug weaver for more than 20 years, together with a group of 25 women. The region distinguishes itself with its rugs primarily because of their double-sided technique, so all rugs can be used on both sides. In her own designs she searches for symmetry between shape, pattern and color and combines tradition with modernity. It is not necessarily about perfection, but designs that belong today, so that it appeals to as many people as possible.

Naima and her daughter Chayma

She learned the craft from her mother as a child. Once married and became a mother, she stopped making kilims to spend more time with the family. When the children had grown up, there was more time to pick up her profession and make it their own again. Her daughter Chayma is now also intensively connected to the weaving workshop, which is currently located in 2 different locations in the north-west Tunisia region. Together they work on improving the productions and on new designs.

After the recent growth and some prestigious design awards from last year, she has also been able to successfully apply for a support program. With this Naima has investment money available to continue growing and to develop new products, such as blankets and bedspreads. She also wants to use this money to purchase new materials and recently presented herself to potential new customers at a fair.

Daughter Chayma wins a prestigious design award

With the new possibilities she can also connect new professionals to her studio. In addition, it is an extra stimulus to familiarize a new generation with weaving art and technology. In this way, the craft is not lost with the current generation.

Photo: Creative Tunisia

In recent years, we have worked with Naima on various successful projects on behalf of and together with a number of Dutch customers. We are all happy with the cooperation and in this way help each other to grow in entrepreneurship.

“In 2020 Fair Fabrics was responsible for more than 6 months of work for the weaving workshop of Naima and her daughter.”

Photo: Creative Tunisia

 

 

Artisan sourcing

We would like to share a successful collaboration project between a Dutch designer and a weaving cooperative in Morocco. A special project resulting in a distinctive and innovative tapestry, a beautiful piece of craftsmanship.

“Fair Fabrics knows how to find a network of reliable professionals who can meet the need. We have access to products and producers from all over the world on behalf of and together with designers, brands and retailers. ”

The product development that has been completed can be divided into a number of phases. Think of an exploration phase of the material, a sketch phase, the introduction and design phase with the weaving professionals, and then the realization into a first sample.

Designing a new product on the spot is the most exciting but also the most fun! For the tapestry we (Fair Fabrics and the Dutch designer Willemiek van Kuijlenborg) traveled to one of our partner weaving cooperatives in the middle of the Atlas mountains of Morocco.

Design process

Together we discuss with the weavers what the wishes are and the (im) possibilities. We compare our ideas and continue sketching together. There is room to react to the collected images of the designer; what does this evoke, for example, among Moroccan weavers? They can sketch and draw over it and Willemiek can respond to that. This way you get close to a new plan step by step where all insights come together nicely.

Fatima – photo credits Jenae Somedays for TBE

The designer and the weaver go together behind the weaving frame, how can the first idea be technically implemented? That is a process that is sometimes gone through with hands and feet, because many weavers only speak the Berber language.

“You can also communicate through the loom and laugh together without having a common language.”

Willemiek behind the loom – photo credits TBE

After a number of small experiments, the artisan weaver can make a first sample. After that, there is room to polish a bit more here and there, but there were also unexpected surprises that were given a greater role in the final tapestry.

The result of connecting designer and maker is a completely handmade and unique tapestry in which the traditional values ​​of the local weavers are clearly respected, and also mix with contemporary insights from a Dutch designer.

Artisan weavers Fatima & Khadija

Tapestry data

Size: 180 high x 120 wide (excluding warp threads)
Material: Wool and cotton
Weight: 6.5 kg
Designers: Willemiek van Kuijlenborg, Fatima Falfouli, Khadija El Hakkaoui & Karin Kandt
Weavers: Fatima Falfouli & Khadija El Hakkaoui
Country: Morocco
Price on request: info@fairfabrics.nl

Photo credits Geert van Hertum

The tapestry during OBJECT/ART Rotterdam 2020

Fair Fabrics tapijt op maat

A letter to the weaver

Last summer, Fair Fabrics designed a new rug on commission and had it made in a limited edition, together with our artisan weavers in Tunisia. In a previous news item we told extensively about this weaver Sihem and her cooperative. And also why we are so happy to be able to work together – especially in these particularly challenging circumstances.

Recently, a customer asked us to have the rug made in a different color palette and in a larger size, so that it would fit exactly into the existing interior. Our designer then made a color proposal and adjusted the design, because a different size also changes the ratio and pattern execution.

Design by Fair Fabrics – Willemiek van Kuijleborg

While the customer was patiently waiting for the rug to be ready, we received an interim update from the mountains of Tunisia; a nice film of the rug in the making!

 

The rug is now ready and has arrived in the Netherlands. And delivered to a satisfied customer, as this photo shows. And now another handwritten note is sent from the customer in the Netherlands to Sihem in Tunisia. It can be that beautiful.

>> On our website you can find more information about ordering a custom rug. Please contact us if you have any questions: info@fairfabrics.nl

Fair Fabrics handgeweven wollen vloerkleed NRC

Wool rug NRC

Especially for the readers of NRC, Fair Fabrics, in collaboration with one of its Tunisian workshops and designer Willemiek van Kuijlenborg, developed a wool rug made in a numbered edition.

>>The rug is sold out at the NRC web store. Please contact us if you still want to order this rug and specify the desired size: info@fairfabrics.nl

Rugs create great atmosphere in your home and offer a lot of extra comfort. They improve the acoustics, make the interior personal and insulate in both winter and summer. The combination of old techniques with this contemporary pattern gives your interior a pleasant atmosphere and is a real eye-catcher. Rugs are very nice for the layout of your living space. You can break a large space with it, while a small space with a rug gets depth.

Wool rug NRC handwoven Tunisia Fair Fabrics

Photo: Geert van Hertum

The rugs are handcrafted by the members of a women’s cooperative in a small mountain village in northern Tunisia. The many years of experience of the weavers ensure tight weaving, creating a high-quality rug that you will enjoy for years to come. All affiliated women are now working together on the growth and professionalization of their studio. All rugs are provided with a label with the name of the maker.

wool rug NRC handwoven Tunisia Fair Fabrics

Photo: Moncef Ben Rajeb

Naima runs a workshop in the north-east of Tunisia. She has been working as a weaver for over 20 years, currently she does so together with about 25 other women from the same mountain village.

The rugs are made differently in each area in the country, the Naima region distinguishes itself with the double-sided carpets. They are made in a special way so that the carpets can be used on both sides.

Naima learned weaving and the technique from her mother as a child. When she got married and had children, she stopped weaving in order to spend enough time with her family. When the children were grown she had time to pick up her passion again. It makes her happy and she really wouldn’t know what to do without it.

“Life is short, a craft takes a lot of time to learn.” 

It took Naima 5 or 6 years to gain confidence in her own craftsmanship. Handmade work is really difficult unlike the machines that you can master quite quickly.

Wool rug NRC artisan and Karin Tunisia

Photo: Moncef Ben Rajeb

Naima is keen to convey to the young generations that they must continue to develop their craft skills, as this is the only way to preserve the cultural heritage.

“My advice to young designers is that they should open up to other cultures and other countries.”

In this way, the younger generations from Tunisia can increase their knowledge of foreign designs so that they can better position themselves and stay on the right path.

Naima likes to recall an old Tunisian saying: 

“All tangible inherited things will disappear, but the inherited knowledge can never be buried.”

Fair Fabrics wool rug NRC handwoven Tunisia

Photo: Geert van Hertum

Fair Fabrics - NRC handgeweven zomer vloerkleed 2020

Hand-woven rug

A stylish and summer hand-woven rug. Exclusively for the NRC webwinkel, Fair Fabrics, in collaboration with one of its Tunisian artisan workshops and the Dutch designer Willemiek van Kuijlenborg, had a wool rug made and produced in a limited edition.

Photocredits: Geert van Hertum

Just as for many other entrepreneurs, the past period has not been easy. The workshops in Morocco and Tunisia were closed, the artisans had no income, the future was – and still is – very uncertain and the transports to the Netherlands are only finally (but laboriously) underway. Fortunately, this project has now come to a good point: the small cooperative in Tunisia does not have a communal workshop, but this meant that they were all able to work at home and earn an income in the past months. This makes logistics more complicated, but this was also their survival mechanism!

The small artisan workshop in the North of Tunisia is being runned by Sihem. She learned the art of rug weaving from her mother. She has passed on the skill to her two daughters, Sarah and Nour, who help her with designs for modern versions of traditional rugs. Sihem has managed to revive a craft that had all but disappeared from her village. She works with four or five other women weaving rugs and distributes these through local fairs and a crafters’ network.

Fair Fabrics NRC zomertapijt workshop Tunisia

Photocredits: Family Sihem

Both her daughters aren’t into the loom work. “We’re not patient to learn it because it’s hard. Everything has to be perfectly made without flaws. In fact, all we do is create new designs, ideas, and colors, but when it’s about weaving we get lost.” 

“Growing up with a mother like mine influenced me.

We do see the world differently,

but the customs and the traditions we were taught remain the same.”

Also Sihems mother is always there to help them. She’s more experienced and helps to clean the wool. The women Sihem works with also do some farming and during the olive harvest they don’t come to work. They can’t depend on weaving only since handcraft is no longer a profitable business.

“Not going to school is the thing I regret most in my life.”

Sihem regretted that she didn’t go to school, her father couldn’t afford it because they were seven kids. That’s why she encourages her children to keep studying and achieve what she couldn’t. The people in her village are really hard working, women work as much as men. Women who live there are real fighters, they help their husbands with everything they do. “This is where I belong. It’s my origin and the land of my ancestors.” 

Fair Fabrics zomertapijt NRC 2020 artisan

Photocredits: Moncef Ben Rajeb

My mother produces wool in the traditional way and she teaches us how to separate the threads and attach them the loom. She learnt all the skills from her mother. When she was a little girl she’d watch her weaving. She used to grab the shed stick and hold it like a pen. 

Her mom was taught how to do it by her mom. Long ago, women used to spin the yarn. When she went out she’d sneak in and spin some wool. Sometimes she hurt her finger so she’d run to her room and hide it from her mom. 

You can feel that some rugs have a soul, but if someone doesn’t make it with love and passion it won’t be appealing. I think passion is necessary to produce good work. Even if it’s to sell, it should be made with passion.

Fair Fabrics NRC zomertapijt 2020 detail

Photocredits: Geert van Hertum

Parts of this interview are from the documentary “The Thread”. A film by Brian Tilley.