A selection of Moroccan "rag rugs" is the subject of the special exhibition, "Post Punk Pink", curated by Gebhart Blazek.
In recent years the Moroccan rug and carpet market has seen the emergence of a previously little known type of "rag rug" (called Boucherouite or Boucherwit, from Moroccan Arabic bu sherwit, "a piece torn from pre-used clothing", "scrap") which marks the (provisional) end of traditional materials, mainly sheep's wool, being used for weaving carpets. This is a result of economic, social and cultural changes in Morocco's rural areas: with the move away from nomadic animal husbandry to settled farming and other modern forms of rural employment.
The materials now used include recycled rag strips and yarns from "found" textile remnants including wool, cotton, synthetic fibres, Lurex, nylon and plastic. This trend started during the 1960s and 1970s in the plains - mainly settled by Arabs - around the towns of Beni Mellal and Boujad. These rugs previously attributed to the Boujad area, are today made all over Morocco and their highly individual style is free from all rules. These rugs reveal an incredible creative vitality and an adaptive continuation of Moroccan textile culture using contemporary means.