About the same is true for the so called ‚boucherouite‘ rag rugs purely made from recycled materials (the term translates from Moroccan Arabic bu sherwit, ‘a piece torn from pre-used clothing’, ‘scrap‘). The use of such replacement materials started during the 1960s and 1970s in the plains west of the Middle Atlas – mainly settled by Arabs – around the towns of Beni Mellal and Boujad and in the following decades such rugs became popular all over Morocco‘s countryside.
Their drawings are largely liberated from traditional models but nevertheless their style gained acceptance even in remote Berber tribal areas in the mountain regions with the time. Unlike the situation with traditional knotted-pile carpets made before the 1950s and 1960s, which were primarily devoted to regional stylistics, no conclusions as to the regional origin of these ‘rag rugs’ can be drawn on the basis of either technical characteristics or specific stylistic features. Since the 2000s they are made all over Morocco in a very similar fashion.
Another variant of this development are rugs or pile textiles called ‚zindekh‘. These objects have a pile from rag material hooked with a needle on a plastic ground most often taken from transport bags that originally served for grain, sugar or cement.
After these rag rugs have found great acceptance in western markets around 2009/2010 commercialized productions have been founded as a reaction on the rapidly increasing demand.
The best examples still made for home use reveal an incredible creative vitality, an adaptive continuation of Moroccan textile culture using contemporary means.
