Saudi Arabia Sparks Outrage Over Use of Moroccan Mosaic Art in Cultural Portal

After Algeria, it is Saudi Arabia’s turn to appropriate Moroccan culture! One of the photos used by the Saudi Ministry of Culture during the launch of a cultural portal presented as reflecting a "comprehensive database for the Saudi cultural sector" is causing controversy. It is a Moroccan architectural engraving representing the zellige of Morocco. The same photo is on Amazon, which sells the engraving under the heading "Moroccan Architecture Print, Marrakech Wall Art". On the web, Moroccan Internet users have expressed their outrage. "You have a splendid culture that deserves a dedicated portal. However, what is the connection between this portal and the Fassi Moroccan zellige represented in the photo?" writes a critic of the Saudi campaign on X (formerly Twitter).

"At this point, you find it difficult to produce a drawing older than the previous century and you use the heritage of Morocco to prove your alleged civilization," comments another Moroccan Internet user. Another commentator is somewhat sarcastic. He calls on Saudi Arabia to change the name of its ministry to the Ministry of Saudi-Moroccan Culture. Several other Internet users have called on the Moroccan Ministry of Culture to seriously address the increasingly recurrent - and alarming - situation of cultural appropriation of Moroccan heritage.

This is not the first time a country has tried to claim paternity of the zellige. In 2022, Algeria celebrated the zellige in an exhibition as its own cultural heritage. "The zellige is our heritage which we will not renounce, declared Said Sayoud, governor of Oran, in a video broadcast during the exhibition. It is our right to inscribe it on our jerseys, our covers or the facades of our buildings, and no one has the right to contest it." Statements made after Morocco sued Adidas in court for releasing a kit inspired by the Fez zellige motif for the Algerian football team. The brand claimed the collection was rather inspired by the "architectural design of the iconic El Mechouar palace in Tlemcen".

Faced with attempts to appropriate Moroccan culture, Morocco decided in August to protect its intangible heritage composed of many ancestral know-how. "In order to avoid the politicization of certain files related (UNESCO heritage registration, 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, explained to Médias24, ensuring that the safeguards currently being developed were a barrier to any foreign attempts to partially appropriate Moroccan know-how.