ALGIERS -

50 kilometers west of Algiers in Tipasa, stands of "tables" for the sale of various pottery vessels are laid, turning their backs to the mountains, while facing the Mediterranean, spreading the scent of Eid, which is associated with modern and traditional pottery in Algeria.

A kitchen in Algeria is not without pottery and pottery, and Algerian women are keen to have pieces of it on their tables. The tagine is a “traditional pottery tool for cooking”, and also the kasra tagine “a clay pot for cooking the traditional loaf” and the sherbet pot is the most prominent thing that is renewed every year in Ramadan, Eid and spring And summer too.

Unadorned traditional pottery still has its audience in Algeria (Al-Jazeera)

Pottery sellers display their goods, which are in great demand, and include drinking bowls and milk-drinking cups, in addition to a number of clay equipment that is in high demand year after year.

There are also pottery pots, in the color of natural clay, red, green and yellow, as well as ceramic pots that are colored in blue, yellow, black and violet, and others.

pottery workshops

Mohamed, 62, who is one of the pottery sellers, says that the secret to the increasing demand of customers in Algeria for pottery is the renewal of ceramics, which, although it retains the same old forms, it "modernizes" (develops in a modern way) with colors and shapes.

On her part, Mrs. Najat Jaballah - the daughter of Al-Saeed Jaballah, the owner of one of the largest ceramic workshops in Arabic calligraphy on pottery pots in the Drariya area of ​​the capital - told Al Jazeera Net, "The fashion for pottery is increasing and we are the ones who bear the responsibility for its decline if that happens one day."

Jaballah added, "On occasions, the demand for what we offer is increasing. It is given as gifts during the holy month of Ramadan and Eid, and many people buy it to renew their kitchen, as is customary."

One of the tables for displaying the ceramic artist "Al-Saeed Jaballah" (Al-Jazeera)

The shapes drawn on the most popular pottery during the current year vary between what are Berber drawings and Tassili fees (the strange Algerian caves of Tassili, which were registered by UNESCO in 1982 in the World Heritage List) in addition to Arabic calligraphy, the latter of which the decorated pots are The most expensive among other graphics.

Najat Jaballah says, "The clay pot is formed and exposed to a temperature of 960 degrees, then extracted to be painted on, and then exposed again to a temperature of up to a thousand degrees.

And the function of heat, according to the spokeswoman, firstly, is the resistance of the mud to water, in addition to fixing the drawings and making the pot more hard and solid.

The Kantara region of Biskra, in the southeast of Algeria, has always been famous for its pottery industry, as well as the Machounch region between Batna, Biskra and Nadroma of Tlemcen in the west of the country. These areas are the incubator for the largest workshops that distribute pottery pots to sellers.

All Algerian cities are concerned with pottery and its exhibitions on the sides of the roads (Al-Jazeera)

From the workshop to the street

Merchants, who bring their wares from workshops or even those who make them with their own hands, in traditional or modern ways, put their goods in such a way as to attract pedestrians on the highway who queue up to buy one of these wares.

Some in Algeria call it "Al-Fal".

Jamila, 52, says, "Ceramic pots are a source of blessing."

For his part, Khariji Walid - who is the owner of a workshop for the manufacture and sale of pottery - attributes the success of the clay and pottery trade in his country to the latter's position among Algerian families, stressing to Al Jazeera Net, "Everything that can be sold on the roads can only be distorted by pottery."

The most prominent pottery vessels that Algerians flock to in Ramadan and before Eid (Al-Jazeera)

Fakhriji Walid, from the wilaya of Bordj Bou Arreridj (250 kilometers east of the capital), believes that the pottery "tables" are open-air exhibitions that decorate the highway landscape, attract passersby and change their mood.

The young man who accompanies his father in the profession confirms to Al Jazeera Net that "the pottery is the vessels of the rich and the poor."

The customer, Jamila, carries her bowl, which she received from the seller, smiling at him, addressing him, “Ramadank correct.” He, in turn, replies, “Happy New Year,” and we are at the gates of Eid al-Fitr. Pottery is a tool for blessing here as well.