M’barek Bouhchichi’s practice is largely rooted in a sociopolitical agenda that centres race and indigenous issues in Moroccan society and history. In his work, Bouhchichi reifies tangible testimonies of the historicity of a people. In doing so, he indulges in an activity of self-affirmation. Tamaoucht is a continuation of a project that weaves together locally-characteristic poetry and crafts—including pieces such as Lmdyazen (les poètes) and Amarg, which is an Amazigh word that means both love and poetry. It is a sculptural manifestation of an oral history from an excerpt of chants of women weavers with whom he collaborates on his textile projects. These same women—his collaborators in the act of weaving—pertain to a village marked by a complex racial dynamic, where power is historically and structurally held by the white community. One of the sculptural sticks bears an engraved extract from these chants, capturing a fragment of the spoken heritage and tradition that accompanies their labour. It is a poetic gesture that inscribes the imprint of a social and racial stratification.

On vertical aluminium and brass sticks, Bouhchichi carves and chisels verses from the communal poems these women recite while weaving. Engraving Tifinagh onto matter, he establishes a visual language of collective resistance where orality is traced and materialized—yielding a poetic physicality to traditional black culture and crafts.

Engraved Verses:

French:

J'implore le Seigneur qui t'a accordé un voile pour tes yeux, qui sont si minuscules.

Oh ma tendre, c'est moi qui ai élevé l’oisillon (petit de la colombe) comme un faucon, mais il ne l'était pas.

Oh ma tendre, je suis celle qui fait l'élevage des moutons des blanches et achète la laine.

English:

I implore the Lord who granted you a veil for your eyes, which are so small.

Oh, my tender one, I raised the fledging young dove as a flacon, though it never was.

Oh, my tender one, I am the one who herds the sheep of fair women and gathers the wool.