Algeria Accused of Appropriating Moroccan Malhoun Art Ahead of UNESCO Bid

From a diplomatic war to a cultural war? Said El Miftahi, an artist and researcher in the art of Malhoun, claims to have noticed that certain websites close to the Algerian regime and its generals are stealing Moroccan productions of the Malhoun and changing the names of their authors to attribute them to Algeria and then present the artistic works to UNESCO, reports Assabah. Dissatisfied, this researcher and his colleague Abdelmajid Fennich, as well as many Moroccans, parliamentarians, journalists and researchers in intangible heritage, have launched a petition to denounce this act.

Said El Miftahi and Abdelmajid Fennich are considering taking legal action through a complaint that would be filed on behalf of Moroccan civil society against the perpetrators of this act. The aim would be to identify the invisible hand behind Cheikh Sidi Abdelaziz El Maghraoui, the Algerian who is stealing Moroccan intangible heritage on social networks. Another action: the signatories of the petition have decided to protect the rights of the authors of the Moroccan Malhoun, who died more than 70 years ago. In this sense, they intend to seize the World Intellectual Property Organization.

The petitioners also call on the Ministry of Culture to work for the protection of the intangible heritage of the kingdom and its promotion through the organization of cultural activities and festivals, as well as the development of organizational structures.