Patrick de Maillard – Collectors’ Island
August 1, 2019 5:08 pmPatrick de Maillard is a collector of boucharouite and zindekh Moroccan rugs, both of which are made with scraps of cut-up and knotted rags found in local souks (outdoor markets). “Moroccans are ashamed of them because they’re made of their old clothing and are thus a symbol of poverty,” says Maillard. But in recent years European art dealers have flocked to Morocco in search of these pieces that have created a new genre. In early 2014, Maillard opened the Musee Boucharouite of Marrakech in his home, an eighteenth-century riad in the center of the Medina quarter.
Each year the Genevan watchmaker Vacheron Constantin releases an art book titled Collectors’ Island, this year I photographed the entire book and this is one of ten stories included.
Many thanks to Bradley Seymour for the invaluable creative direction, and to Lara Lo Calzo for her exceptional work as Editorial Manager. Captions written by Virginie Bertrand.
Patrick de Maillard in the study of his riad in Marrakech, which he shares with his unique collection of nearly three hundred Boucharaouite carpets.
hanging above the traditional Moroccan bed designed by Olivier Marty, the carpet titled The Origin of the World is a reinterpretation by a Berber woman of Gustave Courbet’s famous painting.
Patrick de Maillard at his riad in Marrakech, which he shares with his unique collection of nearly three hundred Boucharaouite carpets.
Boucharaouite carpets according to the different artists’ sources of inspiration – interiority, nature, community and family.
Patrick de Maillard engulfed by a pile of Boucharaouite and Zindekh carpets on the patio of his Boucharaouite Museum in Marrakech.