Makers expose Algeria at UNESCO

The Eastern Chamber of Traditional Industry wrote to the Director-General of the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), urging the nomination of Moroccan zaligs and caftans as part of the Algerian intangible heritage.

The chamber said in the letter, a copy of which is available to Hespress: “It has come to our attention that the State of Algeria wishes to submit the file of nominating the Moroccan zalig and caftan as Algerian intangible cultural heritage within the representative list of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO.”

She added: “In this regard, we express to you, Madam Director-General, our absolute condemnation of this behavior, which constitutes a theft and an attack on an authentic Moroccan heritage that is known on a global level, and which contradicts the provisions of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, which stipulates the necessity of respecting cultural heritage.” For States Parties.”

The correspondence stressed that “hereby, we, as the Chamber of Traditional Industry of the Eastern Region and all the traditional craftsmen and makers practicing Moroccan zalig and caftans in this region – you will find attached a signed list of their names – object to this nomination and we request your urgent intervention in order to challenge the nomination of the Algerian file as an approved nomination.” It is based on fallacies that are not based on historical, technical, or economic foundations, and this process is considered an appropriation and assault on an authentic Moroccan heritage that is internationally recognized, as the Moroccan zalig and caftan represent the authenticity of a kingdom that has extended for more than 12 centuries.”

The Eastern Chamber of Traditional Industry recalled “the pioneering role played by UNESCO in preserving the intangible cultural heritage, and the traditional knowledge, arts and skills that this heritage represents.” In 2003, UNESCO prepared an instrument dedicated to this purpose, which is the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, which Morocco ratified, and the rich and diverse intangible cultural heritage of the Kingdom of Morocco, which reflects the skill and genius of the fingers of the Moroccan traditional craftsman.

“As we express to you, Madam Director-General of UNESCO, our gratitude and thanks for your great services for the benefit of the Kingdom of Morocco, we again ask you to cut off the enemies of our heritage and authenticity who have continued to lurk in our ancient cultural and historical identity, to which history has attested throughout the past centuries,” the Chamber of Industry concludes. The traditional approach to the East is its message.