Personal Canvas: Beni Rugs

The Personal Canvas series is a vehicle to dive deeply into craft processes. Whether glass-blowing, wine-making, or rug-weaving, the common thread lies in human hands and tradition. In the case of this third installment of the series with FRAMA collaborator Beni Rugs, nature becomes another essential element in the process.

“Through the lens of Beni, when you hold a rug in your hands, you’re holding someone’s impassioned practice in your palms. You’re feeling the warp and weft of time passing, and the warmth of the High Atlas sun that dried the wool.”

For founders Robert Wright and Tiberio (Tibs) Lobo-Navia, this connection to nature is directly tied to their practice — both in terms of material and location. The duo elected to build their studio well outside of the busy city center of Marrakesh itself on the edge of a small town called Tameslouht, and this is a deliberate choice that influences the practice both in a practical sense as well as in creative process. As Tibs describes, “there is always a buzz at the studio with our team of 85 artisans, washers, and menders working under one roof,” and being away from any expectation that comes with a location — being a bit more isolated — fuels creativity and forces a constantly fresh perspective for the team.

“Being close to where these beautiful objects are made helps us understand at a fundamental level what’s possible and how we can continue to push the limits of what these rugs can be.”

On top of the stillness of their studio location, and being closer to the 100% live wool sourced locally for Beni Rugs, this location also allows the team to keep design, weaving, and sales all under one roof. Robert explains that the roots of this move were natural, and were “about melding the future-minded with ancient tradition and the alchemy that results” — in this case, not only conceptually but directly in their studio space.

“Creating clear ties between design, craft, and production ensures that everyone is seen, heard, and understood.”

All that having been said, the pair are quick to clarify that while their materials are indelibly linked to their site and surroundings, rug-making is not inherently a site-specific practice — rather, it’s too mobile to take on that term! “The very nature of weaving, particularly a vertical loom, is that it is a tool that can be taken apart and transported anywhere. It also takes up a relatively small footprint.” That’s not to discount their surroundings, though, and they often credit the natural materials that are at the heart of every Beni rug; speaking to their honesty, simplicity, character, and perspective.

“For example, if we use a special type of wool, like that of the sheep from the Siroua region, we have to consider the limited supplies of this wool. This forces us to be really mindful of what we produce with it as we are only allocated so much a year. This level of care around sourcing and value placement is as humbling as it is inspiring.”

While the natural environment is the basis for any Beni design, it’s only one node in the many inspirations the team takes the time to notice and work from. Robert describes a “cosmic loop” of connection between the primordial craft practices that are handed down with each rug, and the time passing that can be felt within the care of the practice.

A cultural point of reference within the collaboration between Beni and FRAMA can be found in the work of German photographer and sculptor Karl Blossfeldt. Blossfeldt dedicated his life’s work to the considered observation of nature—the exact opposite of embellishment, his work amplifies the existing beauty of the simple wonder that is already right in front of us. As Tibs describes, it’s this astute observation that is most inspiring to his process, “From Miró to Albers to the Deco and Memphis movements, I find inspiration from artists, but more often, I find inspiration in architecture and everyday patterns we often overlook.”

As such a tactile practice, memory adds yet another dimension to this woven practice of influence, and Tibs and Robert can each recall sensory experiences with textiles from early in their lives, from the feeling of a baby blanket to Robert’s grandmother’s collection of large-scale rugs that introduced him to the medium’s instinctual sense of beauty.

Through a reverence for the natural world and our intrinsic connection to it, Beni is creating rugs that push the boundaries of ancient craft into new territory, and bring about a responsiveness that comes from bringing objects or textiles into your home that have such rich narrative and consideration behind them. For Beni, that responsiveness is to objects that are the opposite of textiles, furnishings, or objects that are mass-produced.

A long-awaited addition to the material tapestry of FRAMA collections, the Terrain collaboration between Beni and FRAMA has resulted in a foundational interior element: a distilled collection of undyed, flat-woven Moroccan rugs that pay homage to the unadorned beauty of wool and landscape. The collaboration draws on Beni's expertise in rug-making and FRAMA's inclination towards honest, untouched materiality to bring some of nature’s most awe-inspiring simplicity into the home — ultimately, creating domestic interiors that anyone could feel connected to and welcomed by.

SHOP BENI X FRAMA COLLECTION