Tuareg Camel Bags and Creating Beauty

One of the many joys of travel for folk art lovers like myself is the discovery of a form of craft that is new to me or which I had not seen previously.  Such was my experience on my last trip to Marrakesh when my eye caught some beautiful leather work at a shop in the large outdoor straw market near the main square in Marrakesh. 

On entering the shop, I was overwhelmed with beautiful pieces, both old and new, which the owner told me were Tuareg camel bags.  He explained that the Tuareg are a desert people who are an offshoot of the Berbers who generally live in the Atlas Mountains.  The Tuareg are semi-nomadic and cross the Sahara in caravans to transport goods, particularly salt.  The bags in the shop included camel bags, beautifully decorated large rectangular bags with zipper pouches, wallets with ingenious compartments made entirely of leather and wood, and tent flaps or large decorative squares with wood pieces on top to hold the tent covering together.   

The Tuareg are known as fierce people who have had to defend their trade routes from westerners and other tribes.  They are commonly referred to as the “Blue Men” of the desert due to the indigo robes they wear which protect from the sun and insects (and may also stain their skin blue).  They reside across the Sahara in Libya, Algeria, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Morocco.  While they have mostly converted to Islam, they still observe traditional customs and spiritual practices.  The men generally engage in trade and travel while the women cook for the family and maintain the households.  It is the women who decorate the camel bags I saw, as well as making woven mats and other practical items. 

It is remarkable that people who must engage in daily struggles for food, water, and shelter in very harsh climates still devote attention to making exquisite articles or handicrafts.  This suggests to me that the human need for beauty is a very basic one and provides us with a different but important type of sustenance.  AI has this to say about the need for beauty:

"People create beautiful things for a variety of reasons, including the joy it brings, the expression of creativity, and the ability to uplift and inspire others. Making beautiful things can be a form of therapy, a way to express one's culture, or simply a source of enjoyment. Ultimately, the desire to create beauty can be seen as a natural human impulse, stemming from a deep appreciation for aesthetics and a desire to leave a positive mark on the world."

In the words of another blogger (Alan Moore): “The act of creating something of beauty is a way of bringing good into the world. Infused with optimism, it says simply: Life is worthwhile.”

This principle strikes me as more important than ever right now.  In these difficult, ugly, and angry times, I find an even greater need to go to my studio and create art.  I try to avoid political podcasts (not always successful) and focus on the project before me, trying to solve the problem of how to make something as beautiful as I can. I hope you have your own ways of creating beauty right now, in whatever form.