Chaoui Aures Kilim
The Chaoui kilim is a flat-woven woollen rug made by the Chaoui Amazigh women of the Aures mountains in eastern Algeria. Because the Aures is a cold, high country of oak forests and steppe, the weavers use the fleece of the local sheep to create blankets, saddle cloths, tent curtains and floor rugs, working on a horizontal ground loom that can be set up and dismantled as families move between seasonal pastures. The weaving is warp-faced, so that the geometric design is visible on both faces, and the patterns of diamonds, ladders, zigzags and small protective 'eye' motifs are handed down within