We speak unseen, tongues winding
Developed throughout ‘3oubour: A River Between Mountains’ residency
Produced with Zellige master artisan Ahmed Housni in Fez, Morocco
Exhibited in Fez and Crafts Council, London, 2025
As exhibited in Crafts Council, London. Photo Credits : Devika Bilimoria. 3oubour: A River Between Mountains is a collaboration between A.MAL Projects, The Arab British Centre and Takafes, funded by the
British Council with support from the Freelands Foundation.
We Speak Unseen, Tongues Winding was developed and produced with Zellige master artisan Ahmed Housni in Fez, Morocco, during a month-long residency exploring craft, ecology and the rethinking of technology.
Zellige is a heritage Moroccan craft made from individually cut, glazed ceramic tiles. The sculpture reveals the back of Zellige—the surface normally concealed from view—bringing attention to the unseen labour embedded within the craft, its slow temporality of making and care, and the material time of clay.
The pattern of the sculpture originates from symbols made with my own hands, referencing the physical and embodied processes of craftmaking. These gestures were translated into digital symbols and assembled into a pattern, which was then cut into the Zellige tiles by Ahmed Housni.