‘It has the smell of the oasis’: how palm husks became prize-winning Moroccan art

Amina Agueznay, who trained and practised as an architect before turning to art, says: ‘I can’t hug my buildings, but I can hug my artwork.’ Photograph: Hazem Treasure

The idea of weaving an artwork from palm husks came to Amina Agueznay during a workshop she was leading in Morocco’s Souss-Massa region, as part of a project with local rug weavers to renovate Tissekmoudine, a ksar, or fortified village.

“The plan was to integrate the palm trees from the oasis in our designs, so I encouraged the women to look around them and use whatever material they could find,” says Agueznay, who this month won the Norval Sovereign African art prize, worth $35,000 (£28,000).