Zilij – the most beautiful and original form of Moroccan crafts – is merely scorched clay from the mountains of Fez, such is the Moroccan ingenuity: the world’s beauty is made of clay. All this visual culture, which is hundreds of years old, is kneaded, cut into squares of clay, oven backed and then decorated only by hand and a chisel hammer, rendering each piece a letter in a long poem.
Zilij pieces are single colored in greenish blue, purple, light brown, yellow or red, with more than 3000 geometrical shapes collectively designed in the form of 6 to 16 ray stars, Arabesque or floral shapes.
It is quite difficult to imagine the level of skill and focus exerted in structuring the clear luminous and harmonious parts of each mosaic. The meticulous work, color manipulation and use of literature require thinking through a cross.
