Algeria Launches Initiative to Safeguard Cultural Heritage Amid Regional Disputes

"Protect algerian heritagedz" (PHD). This is the name of a new organization created in Algeria and which aims to be the protector of Algerian heritage. "Our mission is to safeguard and enhance the rich Algerian culture through innovative and captivating initiatives," write the authors of the initiative on the website of this organization. These defenders of Algerian culture intend to "stimulate creativity and consolidate intergenerational ties," celebrate Algerian heritage so that it becomes a "source of inspiration worldwide." PHD aspires "to a world where every person recognizes and celebrates the diversity and richness of our heritage," while working to "weave strong intercultural ties" to promote "mutual understanding" and "respect" between communities.

This year, Algeria has decided to register the zellige on the list of its intangible heritage with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). "This April, we filed the dossier ’Art of architectural ornamentation in zellige: knowledge and skills’ for its inscription in the name of Algeria on the representative list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity with UNESCO," announced Soraya Mouloudji, Minister of Culture and Arts, in Béjaia at the opening of heritage month (April 18-May 18), recalling that her country has "11 intangible elements on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage lists" and that a file has been submitted in March 2023 for the "classification of the traditional dress of eastern Algeria" on the UNESCO list. The "common Arab dossier on henna" which has been submitted to the UN organization will be "examined in December 2024," she specified.

After the Algerian attempt to appropriate the "Ntaâ" caftan of Fez, Morocco had decided in August 2023 to protect its intangible heritage composed of many ancestral know-how. "In order to avoid the politicization of certain files relating (heritage registration with UNESCO, editor’s note) to Moroccan culture, we will put in place legal measures recognized internationally to protect our intangible heritage composed of many ancestral know-how," Mehdi Bensaïd, Minister of Culture, had explained to Medias24, ensuring that the safeguards currently being developed are a barrier to any foreign attempts to partially appropriate Moroccan know-how.