Formation workshops
A gateway: a few days alongside a master, one craft, the rhythm of the house — without committing to the long residency.
Alongside the long residency, Dar al-Hiraf welcomes temporary workshops: a few days lived beside a master, in a single craft chosen in advance — the hand in the material, not observation from the threshold. The candidate follows the same rhythm as the residents: the workshop, the common table, prayer, the silence of the evening.
This is not a tourist initiation nor a course isolated from its context: it is a real gateway, under conditions, to test — oneself as much as the house — whether this path deserves to be pursued further.
إِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ
« Actions are but by intentions. »
Prophetic tradition — opening ḥadīth of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī
It is in this spirit that selection is made: it concerns the disposition of the candidate, not a prior technical level. The gesture is learned; the intention is judged from the threshold.
Crafts open to workshop
Each workshop concentrates on a single craft, chosen in advance with the house. The detail of each discipline is found at Dar al-Hiraf.
CRAFTS OF THE HAND
- Calligraphy
- Zellige
- Plaster & mocárabe
- Weaving & brocade
- Wood & intaglio
- Perfumes & essences
BODY, WORD AND SOUND
- Physical discipline
- Musara
- Archery — Rimāya
- Equitation
- Sayf wa-l-turs (sword and shield)
- Javanmardi — zurkhane
- Taḥṭīb (stick art)
- Malḥūn (sung word)
- Gnawa (transmission of the maâlem)
The rhythm of a workshop
The trainee follows the same rhythm as the residents — the one described in Life at the Riad: the five canonical prayers structure the day, from the silent Fajr to the gathered ʿIshāʾ. Between them, the chosen craft occupies the hours of the workshop, meals are shared at the common table, and the evening conversation closes the day.
This is not a course isolated from its context: it is a full day, lived once, to know whether it deserves to be lived longer.
DRESS CODE
Clothing during the stay
During the workshop, traditional clothing is the rule in the daily life of the Riad — meals, prayer, workshops. It is not a disguise: it is a way of learning gesture and measure through the body, before understanding it through the head.
Duration
A few weeks. Enough to touch the craft and the rhythm, not enough to substitute for the long formation.
Framework
Dedicated supervision. The trainee shares certain gestures of the house, without entering the circle of the residency.
Age
The long residency is reserved for adults (18+). The workshop remains open to younger candidates — a first encounter with the craft, before the age of commitment.
Possible continuation
For some, the workshop opens the way to an application for residency. For others, it remains a complete experience in itself.
Workshops are open under conditions. Selection concerns disposition, not prior technical level.
For any request, please specify the craft envisaged and the age of the candidate.
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