Healing Through Heritage
Skhab laid out on a Chaoui scarf during the retreat. 35mm film image by @deg.ttt
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In April 2025, a Skhab-making workshop was held as part of the Anaruz (Hope in Tamazight) retreat in Morocco, organised by SWANA Healing. SWANA Healing is a community-led initiative that centres healing through heritage for women and queer people from the South West Asian and North African region, through ancestral practices, art and storytelling.
The Skhab is a traditional fragrant necklace from Algeria and Tunisia, made from dried roots, ambergris, rose water, musk and mahleb. Worn close to the skin, the necklace carries both scent and memory, passed quietly through generations. It is a trace of everyday beauty, care and feminine knowledge, often taught without words, just through watching, touching, repeating.
Each Skhab bead used in the workshop was handmade in advance using my own traditional recipe. The materials were shaped, scented and dried over time, with care taken to ensure the process itself echoed the slowness and intention of the final object. Kits were assembled for participants, containing the beads, thread, jewellery findings, organza bags and an information guide.
Participants were also invited to bring something of their own to incorporate into the piece. A small object that could be looped through to create a necklace, keychain or pair of earrings. This gesture allowed each Skhab to carry personal meaning and reflect the participants' own memories and where they come from.
The workshop offered a space for community healing and connection through shared making. Rooted in the domestic, the Skhab carries the weight of many women’s hands and in this workshop, it became a way to remember those hands. To reconnect with heritage not through display, but through intimacy, repetition and scent. A way of honouring the quiet knowledge passed down through women in the home.
Rather than a presentation, the format centred softness and ease. Instructions were minimal and visual, allowing each participant to approach the process in their own time. The act of making became a form of collective reflection, a moment of stillness within the wider rhythm of the retreat.
