Jewellery casket

Tamanrasset. The desert oasis on the edge of the Ahaggar Mountains is the last large town in Algeria before the border with Niger and Mali. Moonlike landscapes and Tuareg. A travelling smith fabricates a casket from the chipboards of a packing crate which has become useless. He comes from Mali, and is working temporarily in Tahaggart on the edge of the oasis. He decorates the box according to the traditional palette of colours and patterns: green, yellow and red, lozenges, circles, triangles, wavy lines. In addition, he ornaments it on all sides with studs. In conclusion he signs his work: "I, Bilan, son of Shakany, made this." The casket is intended for storing female jewellery. It can also equally be used for storing implements for tea. At least that's what it says in the inventory volume. In a shop in Tamanrasset, the female collector acquires industrially produced tea glasses and a small, bulgy teapot of blue enamel. Cheap imported wares, such as are also used by the Tuareg in daily life.