How My Chakchouka Began

Across Tunisia, many everyday objects continue to be produced through practical systems that connect place, materials, and daily use.

Clay bowls shaped by hand in northern villages.

Olive wood carved from the pruning cycles of olive trees.

Palm fibre baskets woven in southern communities.

These objects are part of a long tradition of making that developed at the crossroads of the Mediterranean.

Over centuries of trade, agriculture, and daily life, certain forms proved reliable and stayed in use.

My Chakchouka was created to introduce this logic of objects to a wider audience.

Objects and Place

In Tunisia, many objects are closely tied to geography.

Pottery traditions emerge in regions where suitable clay deposits exist.

Palm fibre weaving develops in areas where palm trees grow abundantly.

Olive wood carving follows the landscape of olive cultivation.

The diversity of Regions of Tunisia shapes the diversity of objects produced across the country.

Understanding where an object is made often explains why it takes a particular form.

Materials Shape the Objects

Many traditional objects begin with what is available locally.

Clay gathered from nearby soil becomes pottery.

Olive wood from agricultural pruning becomes kitchen tools.

Palm fibre becomes baskets and storage containers.

These local Materials influence how Objects are shaped.

A material absorbs heat, bends, hardens, or carries weight in particular ways. Over time, makers adjust forms and techniques to work with those properties.

The resulting objects reflect a practical dialogue between maker and material.

Knowledge Through Making

The Skills required to produce these objects are usually transmitted through Practice rather than written instruction.

Shaping clay by hand.

Weaving fibres into stable structures.

Carving wood along its natural grain.

These techniques evolve gradually. Small adjustments accumulate over generations as makers refine proportions, thickness, and structure through repeated use.

The forms that remain are often those that have proven reliable in everyday life.

A Concrete Example

One example can be seen in the Artisan Ceramic Tableware collection.

These bowls and plates follow forming methods used in the Sejnane Pottery tradition in northern Tunisia. The clay is shaped by hand without industrial molds and fired in open kilns.

Each piece shows slight variation in surface tone and proportion — natural outcomes of the making process. At the same time, the forms remain remarkably consistent, reflecting a long process of practical refinement.

They are produced as working objects designed for everyday meals and shared tables.

Why the Platform Exists

My Chakchouka emerged from the idea that these objects reflect a coherent way of making shaped by place, materials, and long experience.

The platform documents and presents objects while preserving the context that gives them meaning: their region of origin, the materials used, and the techniques through which they are made.

Rather than treating objects as isolated products, My Chakchouka approaches them as part of a larger system of knowledge embedded in everyday life.

As the platform develops, these regions, materials, and object traditions continue to be studied and documented in greater depth.

The aim is simple: to introduce a way of making objects that has already proven its usefulness over centuries of daily use.