How Artists Engage with Local Craft in Fez

For many artists, connecting with craft in Fez begins not through making, but through observation. Simply spending time in the Medina, walking without a fixed destination, watching processes unfold, and returning to the same places over several days allows a deeper, more nuanced understanding of how materials are handled and how work develops over time.

What might initially appear as repetition gradually reveals complexity. Small variations in movement, timing, and technique become more visible, and the relationship between process and outcome starts to take shape. This kind of sustained observation builds familiarity, not through explanation, but through presence.

Importantly, this is not passive looking. It is an active form of attention that sharpens awareness of:

• Repetition and rhythm
• Gesture and technique
• The relationship between tool, material, and maker

Over time, these observations begin to filter into an artist’s own thinking. Without necessarily engaging directly with the craft itself, artists start to reconsider aspects of their own process, how they work, how they handle materials, and how decisions are made in the act of making.

Working in Fez often shifts attention towards materials in a very direct way. The proximity to locally sourced elements, combined with exposure to traditional techniques, encourages artists to reconsider how they work physically — not just what they make, but how they make it.

Rather than approaching materials as something secondary or predetermined, artists begin to engage with them more actively, allowing process and material behaviour to play a greater role in shaping the work.

This might involve:

• Experimenting with locally available materials
• Adapting techniques observed in workshops
• Translating craft processes into contemporary forms
• Material experimentation
• Process-driven exploration
• Hybrid approaches combining craft and contemporary practice

These approaches are not necessarily about replicating traditional methods, but about understanding their logic, how materials are handled, how processes unfold, and how outcomes are shaped through repetition and precision.

Over time, this can lead to a noticeable shift in practice. Ideas begin to emerge through interaction with materials, rather than being imposed onto them from the outset.

The result is often a move towards a more material-led approach, where making becomes a process of discovery — guided by the properties, limitations, and possibilities of the materials themselves.

Some artists choose to move beyond observation and engage more directly with artisans, developing relationships that allow for exchange, dialogue, and, in some cases, collaboration. These connections tend to develop gradually, often through repeated visits, shared conversations, and a growing familiarity with the rhythms of a particular workshop or practice.

This kind of engagement can take different forms, depending on the artist’s approach and the nature of the relationship:

• Visiting workshops regularly and building familiarity over time
• Learning about techniques, processes, and materials through observation and conversation
• Commissioning elements or working alongside makers in specific contexts

However, working in this way requires sensitivity and awareness. Craft in Fez is not an open resource to be accessed freely - it exists within established social, economic, and cultural structures, and is often tied to livelihood, identity, and inherited knowledge.

Meaningful engagement therefore depends on how these relationships are approached. It is grounded in:

• Respect
• Mutual understanding
• Clear communication

This includes recognising boundaries, valuing the expertise of artisans, and understanding the context in which the work exists.

Engagement with craft in Fez does not mean replicating traditional forms or reproducing what already exists. More often, it involves a process of translation — taking elements of process, structure, or material understanding and integrating them into a contemporary practice in a way that feels relevant and personal.

Rather than focusing on surface aesthetics alone, artists begin to engage with underlying principles: how patterns are constructed, how materials are handled, and how processes are repeated, refined, and adapted over time. This creates space for interpretation rather than imitation.

This might appear as:

• Abstracted references to pattern or geometry
• Reinterpretation of techniques through new media or formats
• Conceptual work informed by systems of making

In each case, the influence is not direct, but embedded — shaping how the work is developed rather than dictating its outcome.

The value lies not in imitation, but in dialogue between practices, where traditional knowledge and contemporary approaches inform each other, opening up new ways of thinking, making, and positioning work.

Working with or alongside craft traditions in Fez naturally raises important questions around ethics and context. These practices are not abstract references - they come from lived experience, cultural continuity, and, for the most part, economic necessity.

Engaging with them therefore requires more than interest - it calls for awareness, responsibility, and a willingness to consider how any engagement takes place.

Artists are encouraged to consider:

• How knowledge is accessed and used
• How credit and visibility are given
• How cultural context is represented

These questions are not always straightforward, and there is no single way to approach them. However, taking the time to reflect on them can lay out how work is developed and how it is received by others. It also helps to avoid reducing complex traditions to surface-level references or aesthetic elements.

Fez Art Residency opens a door for artists to engage with local craft in a way that is grounded, respectful, and aligned with their individual practice. Rather than structuring or formalising collaboration from the outset, the emphasis is placed on understanding the environment first, allowing artists to build their own relationship with the Medina before deciding how, or if, they wish to engage more directly.

This begins with:

• Orientation within the Medina
• Introducing artists to the wider context and environment
• Allowing relationships to develop organically over time

By slowing down the process, artists are able to approach craft with greater awareness, rather than moving too quickly into application or outcome.

The approach is guided by a set of underlying principles:

• Context before collaboration
• Understanding before application
• Engagement before outcome

These principles help to shift the focus away from immediate results and towards a more considered, process-led engagement. Artists are encouraged to observe, reflect, and build familiarity before taking action, ensuring that any interaction with craft is informed rather than superficial.

In this way, engagement becomes rooted in experience and awareness, allowing artists to connect with local craft in a way that is genuine, meaningful and sustainable within their practice.

Engagement with craft in Fez rarely ends with the residency itself. For many artists, it becomes a defining thread that continues to shape their practice long after they leave the Medina. What begins as observation or initial experimentation often evolves into something more sustained, influencing how materials are approached, how ideas are developed, and how work is positioned over time.

As this engagement deepens, it can lead to:

• New bodies of work
• Exhibition themes linked to place
• Collectible series or editions
• An expanded material vocabulary

These developments are not always immediate. In many cases, they unfold gradually, as ideas initiated in Fez are revisited, refined, and translated into new contexts. The residency becomes a reference point, something that continues to inform decisions and direction.

Engaging with local craft in Fez is not a single action, but an ongoing process of observation, understanding, and response. It happens gradually, through time spent in the Medina, through repeated encounters, and through a growing awareness of how materials, processes, and people are connected. Working in this way requires patience, attention, sensitivity, and a willingness to engage with a context that is both rich and complex.

For artists, this kind of engagement can reshape not only how work is made, but how materials are understood and how practice develops over time. It encourages a shift towards greater awareness of process, a deeper connection to making, and a more considered relationship between concept and material.

Beyond the work itself, building relationships with the Medina’s artisans can also play an important role in an artist’s longer-term development.

These connections can lead to:

• Ongoing collaborations
• Access to specialised knowledge and techniques
• Opportunities to develop new bodies of work
• A deeper connection to place that strengthens artistic identity

In some cases, these relationships extend beyond the residency, becoming part of an artist’s network and influencing future projects, exhibitions, or collections.

Within an art residency in Fez Medina, craft becomes more than a point of reference, it becomes part of the environment that informs and expands the work itself.