Doors of Baraka Issue 10 - August 2013 A beautiful door endows the threshold to one’s home with a sense of welcome. Around the world, doorways are decorated to bestow blessings upon those who enter and ward off the evil eye. Perhaps it would be more accurate to start with ‘Once upon a time’ for this tradition is fast dying out in favour of anonymous entrances which say nothing of the culture of its inhabitants and which do not appear particularly welcoming. North African doorways have entranced me for many years, particularly the exquisitely carved stone doors of Almoravid and Almohad mosques, the Babs or gates that pierce the historic walls of countless medinas. Some of these monumental gateways carved out of stone into intricate designs are currently being restored and used as gallery spaces to hold exhibitions. But there are also the more humble but not less inviting doors of family houses, carved and often painted in two shades of pigments which vary from indigo blue to ochre yellow and many more shades in between. Sometimes the doorway is the only indicator of the kind of interior that lies behind the towering, fort-like walls seldom perforated by openings, which instead are found on the inside around ample courtyards. As these vast family homes increasingly become abandoned or sold off, carved and studded doors are chained up until disputes over inheritance are resolved. .......by Cleo Cantone - See more at: islam-today.net/show.asp?idd=2056&kind=fp#sthash.znC2a7Bh.dpuf
Posted on: Thu, 01 Aug 2013 13:04:17 +0000
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