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Since time immemorial, men have always had a dialectic relationship
with their body. Sometimes hidden, sometimes shown off ; sometimes
accepted, sometimes rejected, the body and particularly the skin have
been, in every civilization, objects of attention and eventually special
treatments, through make-up and tattooing.
W
omen have been practicing tattooing since stone age, more specifically
the Neolitic Age, in several regions of the world. Mummies of tattooed
women discovered in Egypt date back to the second millenium before
Christ. Despite the Judaeo-Christian or Muslim religious prohibitions, this
practice persisted for a long time and almost everywhere in the world.
In the Maghreb, the tattoo tradition continued until an advanced time.
Nowadays, just a few Tunisian women still adorn themselves with this
permanent tattoo called “washm”. They usually prefer another type, the delible one, very trendy during
wedding ceremonies : the “harqous”, which disappears
after a few days.
Actually, rural women get the “washm” tattooed on
specific places of their body : the forehead, the chin, the
cheeks, the back of their hands, the calfs… The technique
consists of embedding within the skin, between the
dermis and the epidermis, with a pointed tool, for
example a needle, a dyeing blackened with carbon
black, the “ghonj”. Once the skin is healed, black
purplish patterns appear.
The symbolism of these signs dives into cultural
depths, comes from the principle of geometric
abstraction. From straight lines, geometric patterns
are created (triangles, diamonds, chevrons…). These
patterns are arranged according to a rigorous
combination based on recurrence. Obvious aesthetic
bonds are noticed, especially with Sajnane’s pottery
and with carpet weaving from the Tunisian South,
the mergoum.
The “harqous” is a black dyeing made from oak
galls, cloves, walnut bark and copper sulphate. Its
preparation is complex and needs a through
know-how. Changing according to regions and
skin areas, the drawn patterns are generally
pectinate lines or ciliate chevrons.
Tattooing, the practice that modifies permanently
the human body, is most of the time perceived
as a seal indicating an ethnicity or a sign of
aesthetic ostentation ; the appreciation of
beauty being a matter of culture. I
Tatouages tunisiens. Extrait
de la Revue d’histoire de
la pharmacie. I Tunisian
tattooing. From the
pharmaceutical history
magazine. I
وشم عىل الساقني. منط مرنـاقي
عىل اليسار هاممي يف الوسط
وشمطوري عىل اليمني. عن فرج
I .بن بركة كـارباري
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