Zellige: Morocco Fights Back at UNESCO Against Algeria

To support this candidacy, a Moroccan delegation met during the current session with Lazare Assomo, interim director general for culture at UNESCO, as well as with Fumiko Ohinata, secretary of the convention. The file highlights a fundamental element of the kingdom’s architectural identity. Composed of small tile fragments meticulously assembled to form repetitive geometric patterns, zellige historically adorns mosques, madrasas, palaces and fountains, with a particularly strong presence in the cities of Fès and Tétouan.

On Bladi.net : Morocco files complaint against the "appropriation" of zellige by Algeria

This diplomatic offensive takes place in a climate of tensions with Algeria, which Rabat accuses of wanting to claim paternity of this traditional mosaic. On social network X, the Ministry of Culture emphasized that this official meeting aimed above all to "safeguard zellige as an authentic part of Morocco’s national heritage". The institution has indeed shown itself to be very firm, promising that it "will spare no effort to defend its heritage against systematic appropriation attempts it is subject to]".