Algeria attaches special interest to preservation of intangible heritage

 
 
ALGIERS-Algeria is the first country to have ratified the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Conservation of Intangible Cultural Heritage. It attaches particular interest to the preservation of its heritage and has become an African reference in terms of expertise with specialized research centers which have brought eight Algerian cultural assets to the list of world heritage.
 
Popular and religious celebrations, culinary know-how, clothing and crafts, music and instruments represent Algerian culture on the prestigious UN list, a ranking that involves efforts to protect and enhance it at the national level, and also to add certain value to Algeria destination.
 
Algeria, which celebrates this year the 60th anniversary of the recovery of its independence, entered its first cultural property in 2008 “Ahellil of Gourara,” a sung and danced poetry, performed during collective ceremonies and religious festivals in this southern Algeria region. It was defended by researcher Rachid Bellil, an expert who returned in 2014 to classify the Sbuaa, an annual pilgrimage to Sidi El Hadj Belkacem zawiya in Gourara in celebration of Mawlid Ennabawi.
 
Another well-known celebration in the great south of Algeria, the Sebeiba ceremony, which takes place every year in the oasis of Djanet, has also entered the list of universal heritage, in the same way as the annual pilgrimage to Sidi Abd El Kader Ben Mohamed tomb, also known as “Sidi Cheikh,” a file successfully carried out in 2013 by researcher Ahmed Ben Naoum.
 
With a view to promoting the common heritage with neighboring countries, Algeria conducted in 2013 its first multinational file to register the practices and knowledge related to the Imzad old ancestral monochord played and made exclusively by Tuareg women in Algeria, Mali and Niger. This file was coordinated by the National Center for Prehistoric, Anthropological and Historical Research (CNRPAH) and anthropologist Badi Dida.
 
It is in this same list that couscous, knowledge, know-how and practices related to its production will be classified on behalf of several North African countries, and Arabic calligraphy and knowledge skills and practices, defended by sixteen countries including Algeria.
 
However, in the register of traditional costume, rites and craftsmanship associated with the tradition of Tlemcen’s wedding costume have represented Algerian dress to the world since 2012.