ZELLIGES :

" Zellige" in Arabic means tiles, all tiles. But out of ignorance of the real meaning of the word, we have restricted its use to the traditional enamelled, cut terracotta tiles from Fez . Actually, it is almost a Freudian slip, because it is so clear that these tiles unconsciously symbolize the quintessence of Arab know-how in this field. So this shift of meaning barely troubles me, although now I know the true sense of the word. As if everything was suddenly summed up in a simple square of colour which, to use a rather hackneyed phrase but which applies perfectly "is never quite the same, nor totally different" from its neighbour. The singularity of each of these items is best expressed in its simplest version, which is rather modern in comparison with the traditional custom of multicoloured mosaics: that of a monochrome surface, where there is nothing to distract from the subtle interplay of variations of colour. No anecdotes, only a very old, very traditional technique which is completely illustrative of all the manufacturing defects that industrialization sought to eliminate, through increasingly lucrative rationalizations. (...)