Moroccan carpets tell cultural stories in Dutch museum
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Mina Abouzahra, a Dutch designer of Moroccan origin, will present her work at the Gouda Museum in the Netherlands starting September 26.
The exhibition, titled “Woven Letters,” features furniture and carpets blending Moroccan craftsmanship with Dutch design. Abouzahra challenges the idea of carpets as simple decoration, highlighting their role in Amazigh tradition as records of women’s life stories and cultural symbols.
The exhibition includes new pieces like Bénédictions, a cabinet traditionally given to Moroccan brides as they begin independent life, and the Sofa Goity, which honors family and intergenerational living. Abouzahra collaborated with Dutch craftspeople, Tsugi Woodworks and Het Borduurburo, to create some of these pieces, combining techniques like Japanese joinery and embroidery with Moroccan textiles.
A central artwork, the tapestry Lettre, reflects a Taznakht tradition where a new bride weaves her feelings and experiences into a tapestry during her first year away from family. Her father delivers the tapestry to her mother, who interprets its woven symbols. Abouzahra also created contemporary cushions with Gouda communities, linking Dutch textile history to Morocco’s weaving practices, a connection made stronger by the significant number of Gouda residents with Amazigh and Rif mountain ancestry.
Abouzahra runs a design studio in both Amsterdam and Taznakht, Morocco, and prioritises fair pay and working conditions for the local women weavers she collaborates with.
