Tiznit - city of jewelers
Tiznit, Souss-Massa-Draa Region, Morocco.
Tiznit is a famous city in Morocco for the production of silver jewelry and all kinds of silver handicrafts. I managed to visit the workshop of one jeweler. On the central square, as usual, without having time to get out of the car, a guy appears and persistently (so it’s impossible to refuse) offers himself... well, that is, to lead tourists through the web of the town. When we told him that we were interested in this town, he wondered... what to do with us? Well, he led the labyrinths: he led, he led, he led... yes, we saw their life in the most undisguised form. Dumps and faeces right on the streets, skinned kids, unwashed, underfed... well, which of them will grow up ?? ? it's hard to imagine. . . Oddly enough, I was struck by women who wear an ordinary pareo in the form of a scarf and a dzhelyaba at the same time. I have not seen this anywhere else in Morocco and other similar countries... Apparently a local tradition. Yes, well, here we are. . . not even an hour has passed, such a factory apparently. . . at the entrance there is a certain showcase and. . . oh my God. . . a group of Russians. We twirled for 2-3 minutes and decided to go to another factory. . . which turned out to be just some kind of stuffy house. . . Well, if the organs were cut out there, it would be more understandable. The master wasn't there. . . well, the siesta. . . But the student, a boy of 10 years old, said that he would take us to another master. . . I wondered why the boy was not at school. . . after all, it was class time. I was told that he would not learn a craft at school... and would not feed his family... after all, at the age of 10 he already had an income. Again we went through labyrinths, though all these streets converged as usual to the main mosque, and, accordingly, the bazaar. Under the scorching sun, the unhurried gait of the guy led us to some kind of garage, well, at least here the master was in place. In fact, somehow not willingly, unlike the rest of the locals, he communicated... I had to "pull" a story from him with pincers. Yes, this is not an easy job - to make silver jewelry, so that later it can be sold to resellers for a pittance, and they, in turn, to shops. And the amount of work is not small, because for this proceeds it is necessary not only to support the student, but also his own family. Outwardly, these people look just ragamuffins... but apparently their inner world is rich, since they can make such intricate decorations with their hands. Later, looking at the silver goods in the stalls of Agadir and Casablanca, I remembered those very masters and apprentices. . . probably they cannot even imagine this chic of decorations. . . as well as the final price of their creation.
