Tiskiwin Museum

The Tiskiwin Museum in Marrakech: Bert Flint’s caravan trip from the Netherlands to Timbuktu

The life of the Dutchman Bert Flint (1931) is like an adventurous boy’s book and he may well be the last explorer of its genre. While studying Spanish he became interested in the Moorish-Andalusian Empire and wanted to learn more about this past influence on the development of Western culture. He traveled through Spain and followed the road south to Morocco, where he visited the city of Marrakech in 1954. The sparks went off like the two flints (flints) touch each other: Mother Stone Africa and Bert Flint. The love fire between the two will never go out!

He decided to work at a secondary school in Marrakech as a teacher of English and Spanish. In his spare time, he traveled as much as possible through Morocco and surrounding countries such as Burkina Faso, Senegal, Niger, Mali, and its mythical city Timbuktu, Mauritania, and Algeria. His preferred mode of transport was the oxcart instead of a Landrover, “because it all shook a bit hard’. He was an adventurer who thought with his eyes and saw with his brain. With this property and his friendliness, many Tuareg let him into his nomad tent or welcomed him at a distant tribe!

Bert Flint did not deny his rural past and saw it as his task to preserve the “peasant art”, as they were mostly the objects from Africa disposed of by Western art historians at that time. A private collection of objects, carpets, figurines, jewelry, carvings, and Berber tents followed. He began to discover patterns and symbols under the different tribes that were used in these objects. He found the frog as a symbol of fertility almost everywhere in North Africa: in carvings, in stone artifacts, and weaving. “Just a coincidence,” people say in Europe.

When he elevated Berber carpets to an art form, he counted on a lot of resistance. But Bert Flint wouldn’t have been Bert Flint if he cared about this. He knew how to place the folkloric dress in a new light. Without one pattern in advance, the Berber women knotted and weaved abstract shapes and symbolic motifs together. This time and time again and at their discretion. That speaks of talent!

What the Western critics wanted to forget for the sake of convenience was that, for example, the Bauhaus institution is a modern abstract design based on these carpets. And that it was not a revolutionary new idea from the beginning of the 20th century. An important counterpoint comes from the architect Le Corbusier when he proudly says that the inspiration is for his designs came after seeing a Berber carpet: “Do like the Berber women. Connect geometry with the most notorious fantasies “. In the end, international recognition for the new look at the former folk dress could not fail. Bert Flint received an award from The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

He also made another bold statement at the time, after a visit to the Middle East: The cradle of the Western and Moroccan Culture does not lie between the Tigris and Euphrates 2000 BC, but in Africa and much further back. Although the oldest man (at the time) had been found in Ethiopia and important archaeological finds date back a long way. Nevertheless, the Middle East is seen as the cradle of writing and civilization. This finding of the anthropologist who became an anthropologist with his Tiskiwin museum in Marrakech was not taken seriously. Until bone fragments were found in a cave west of Marrakech in 2017. Sensational news, as it was proof supplied that the Homo Sapiens already walked around in Morocco 350,000 years ago. Almost 100,000 years earlier than in Ethiopia! And would this man have waited until 2000 BC to develop a civilization?

His knowledge and collection are now seen as an invaluable part of the Berber cultural heritage. Bert Flint remained a down-to-earth Dutchman and, as he said himself: “If you don’t keep your mind and your imagination stimulating, science becomes a boring kind of imitating each other. ”

“The Tiskiwin museum in Marrakech ”

In between his travels and teaching, he found his dream home in the medina of Marrakech. In 1975 he bought one of the mansions, a Dar, and appropriately the home of a teacher who still taught at the court of Palais de Bahia. The cedar ceilings in particular made him decide to settle here. The big house gave enough space for his now enormous collection and a few years later he opened his home as the Tiskiwin museum Marrakech.

The museum is around the corner from Riad Orange and near the Dar Si Said museum. When you enter you are kindly received by an employee. The walking route through the house is self-explanatory and the rooms show you pieces, which will tell you more about the culture of the Berber people from Morocco and the Sub-Sahara. Even if you don’t want to visit a museum, it is already a unique experience to walk through this beautiful and authentic Dar. So be sure to look at the ceilings, the original floors, and the beautiful doors that the house has. Except for the construction of electricity, nothing has changed.

His collection has been reduced in size because Bert Flint was getting older. The house has been donated to the University from Marrakech and they currently take care of its preservation. Yves Saint Laurent has always had an eye for the collection of Berber textiles and carpets but hasn’t been successful in life. It made Bert Flint decide to buy the collection of the Foundation Majorelle. He shared part of his collection in collaboration with a museum in Niger for student research. He also took the time to compile a book in 2017: “La Culture Afro-Berbere”. A beautiful legacy of this, at times, a loner who kept on responding to his ardent passion for Mother Africa. A rich history of culture won’t be forgotten, thanks to Bert Flint!

An insider tip! Visit the nearby restaurant Black Chich. Here you can get delicious Berber and Senegalese dishes on the map and also discover the rich flavors of this culture in the culinary field. The super nicely dressed restaurant has a roof terrace with an amazing view over the medina. When the African sun goes down it colors the sky on fire in unforgettable shades of red.