Hajar

Voices of Morocco is a storytelling series that highlights the creatives shaping Morocco today. From designers and curators to artists and makers, each feature offers a personal lens into life, place, and process. Through their words, we explore what inspires their work, how they navigate Morocco, and the spaces, rituals, and ideas that continue to influence their craft, both within and beyond their daily practice.

Hajar Daide is a Moroccan multidisciplinary designer and artist based in Marrakech. Her work bridges traditional handmade processes and contemporary creation, resulting in pieces that carry cultural memory while embracing modern form and function. Alongside her product and collectible design practice, she founded Divers, a creative studio and distinct platform for creative direction and graphic commissions.

We asked Hajar to reflect on Morocco, the places that ground her, and how memory, observation, and handmade practice continue to shape the way she creates.

What does “home” mean to you in Morocco?

Lately, with how much I travel for work, I have been feeling it more than ever. It is an intangible feeling I experience the moment I land at any airport in Morocco. I feel that I am finally home, and I know that I truly belong.

Is there a specific place in Morocco that feels especially grounding or significant to you?

Ouled Teima, the city where I was born and raised, feels especially significant to me. So does my grandparents’ farm, where I spent many summer holidays and learned so much about nature, bees, farm life, and the rhythms of the land.

What originally drew you to the creative field?

As a child, when I came home from school around 5 p.m., we had a tea-time ritual where my mother and the other women in my family would gather, each working on her own piece. My mother embroidered, my aunt made macramé, and my cousin crocheted. I was immersed in that world from a young age.

Your work bridges handmade processes and contemporary creation. What does that connection look like in practice, from first idea to final object?

The process changes from one piece or product to another, but in my mind it feels like a connected chain. It begins with observing my surroundings, sometimes a shape, a texture, a material, or even a quote. From there, I choose the medium and handmade process I feel most connected to. Then I begin experimenting with forms and drawings, and if it is a product, its function becomes an important part of the process as well.

You often speak through materials. What materials or techniques keep pulling you back lately, and why?

Weaving is definitely what keeps bringing me back to my practice. This year, with Blue Interval, exhibited during 1-54, I explored Moroccan trimmings and rush. Despite their differences, I was able to combine these two materials into a single cohesive piece.

I feel like I was conditioned for this field from childhood, so working with fibers has always felt natural to me.



When you collaborate with hospitality brands, what are the non-negotiables you protect so the final work still feels true to your design voice?

For me, it comes down to the personal touch. Whether it’s a hand-drawn illustration, artwork, or furniture, the piece has to feel handmade and intentional.

I also value the time spent on research and observation, because that attention is what gives depth to the final piece. It allows the work to carry a true story and a clear concept behind it.

What have you learned from working closely with artisans and makers, especially around trust, time, and quality?

It is not always easy to find the right artisans, the ones who truly listen, work with finesse, and are open to collaboration. I learned that trust takes time. By going into the medina, asking directly, and building relationships step by step, I found the right people. Once that connection is there, they can create incredible things, and very often the relationship becomes personal.



Can you share a challenge, learning moment, or work in progress that shaped how you build and lead projects today?

I have learned to stay open, to learning and collaborating with anyone, as long as the brand or project is creative and has a real story or soul. I am always willing to take that opportunity. That openness has exposed me to different techniques and allowed me to work with a wide range of people, which has taught me a great deal.

Through Hajar’s perspective, Morocco reveals itself as a place of memory and making, where childhood rituals, landscapes, and handmade processes continue to inform her practice. Continue to follow her work here.

Photography by Younes Jourrane, Nuno Mousinho and Hajar Daide.