During a session led on December 4 by Nancy Ovelar De Gorostiaga, extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador and permanent delegate of Paraguay to UNESCO, some of the 58 nominations presented for the representative list of the intangible cultural heritage of the ‘humanity.
Among these applications was that of Algeria, submitted in March 2023 and entitled: “The female ceremonial costume in the Great East of Algeria: know-how associated with the making and adornment of the Gandoura and the Melehfa“. A file to be examined by the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, with a view to possible inscription in 2024 on the representative list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, in accordance with the procedures established in the operational directives for the implementation implementation of the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
However, since Algeria submitted this application, Morocco has continued to denounce what appears to be a blatant attempt at cultural appropriation of the Moroccan caftan.
And for good reason, among the photos of the outfits illustrating the said Algerian clothing heritage, which the very title of the file qualifies as “Gandoura” and “Melehfa”, appears an Ntaa caftan, typical outfit of the city of Fez, described in the caption as being a “Kaftan embroidered with “mejboud” with floral and animal motifs» and, icing on the cake, indicating a copyright of the Algerian National Center for Prehistoric Anthropological and Historical Research (CNRPAH).
An example of cultural appropriation that has long been denounced
In a letter addressed in May 2024 to Audrey Azoulay, Director General of UNESCO, Mehdi Bensaïd, Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, then pointed out the seriousness of this attempt at cultural appropriation and called for a reaction from the UN organization.
The minister therefore requested the removal of these illustrations which intentionally lead to confusion. This, “in view of history and the multiple insistent but legitimate claims of Moroccan public opinion, including those of Moroccan communities custodians of ancestral know-how transmitted from generation to generation in the different trades linked to the Caftan, embodying par excellence the values of peace and tolerance of the Moroccan identity“, could we read in this letter.
Read also: A Ntaâ caftan from Fez usurped in an Algerian file: Morocco brings the imposture to UNESCO
This grievance from Morocco did not remain a dead letter. This Wednesday, December 4, the Kingdom, through its delegation chaired by Samir Addahre, ambassador, permanent representative of Morocco to UNESCO, and Mustafa Jellouk, director of cultural heritage at the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication , thus managed to thwart this new attempt at shameless appropriation of Moroccan intangible heritage.
Samir Addahr’s intervention disrupted by the Algerian representative
Indeed, during the examination of the Algerian candidacy, Samir Addahre filed an official protest, to which the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage responded positively. On the basis of solid evidence attesting to the Moroccan nature of this caftan, provided by the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication, in coordination with the Moroccan delegation, the said committee decided to remove the image illustrating the caftan Moroccan from the Algerian file, on the grounds that this image did not respect intellectual property rights.
Following this decision, Nancy Ovelar De Gorostiaga gave the floor to the permanent representative of Morocco to UNESCO. An invitation contested by the Algerian representative that the president had to reframe, reminding him that the decision belonged to the presidency and summoning him to respect it.
In his speech, Samir Addahre made a point of recalling a certain number of principles. “The Kingdom of Morocco, which shares the values that unite us within this organization, reaffirms that this convention cannot under any circumstances be the subject of exploitation or political instrumentalization as stipulated in the constitutive act of our organization. If intangible cultural heritage works to bring people together, its safeguarding and promotion are more than essential to safeguard the sovereignty and cultural integrity of our nations and the specific identity of our communities. The spirit of compromise and wisdom that the Kingdom of Morocco has always demonstrated cannot give way to maneuvers of cultural appropriation that all the signatory states of this convention unanimously reject.“, he recalled.
The representative of Morocco to UNESCO thanked the said States “for their efforts and their constructive interactions with the challenge introduced by Morocco several months ago for the use of photos and a video sequence concerning an element of the intangible heritage of the Kingdom of Morocco».
Read also: The “Moroccan Caftan” label explained by Fatim-Zahra Ammor, Minister of Tourism, Crafts and the Social and Solidarity Economy
Samir Addahre also expressed his thanks to the members of the evaluation body who responded to the challenge lodged by Morocco, by proposing to the secretariat “to integrate into paragraph 4, in the wording of decision 7.B.20, (…) reminder that the use of supporting documentation, whether a photo or a video sequence, does not imply any origin, appropriation or intellectual property of intangible cultural heritage».
«Being aware of the imperative of neutrality imposed on us by the objective criteria of the operational directives, the Kingdom of Morocco remains convinced of the special place that history, and the genesis of know-how and their preservation are so important for our communities. , continued the ambassador, citing to this effect the example “of the emblematic Ntaa caftan of the city of Fez, with its multiple animal and floral embroidery, the photo of which was introduced in a somewhat unexplained manner in the file of the submitting State and in disconnection with the element presented for registration».
Samir Addahre finally denounced, at the end of his speech, the fact that “the Moroccan caftan, which is the subject of an application for registration under the 2025 cycle, and which is recognized worldwide for its beauty and the unique know-how which has shaped it for several centuries, is unfortunately the subject of attempts of appropriation”.
Before giving the floor to the presidency, the Moroccan representative did not fail to warn Algeria, reminding it that “we cannot take liberties with factual heritage realities, knowing that contrary to what some believe, the issue of property does not come under UNESCO, but other international organizations».
Here is therefore a great victory for Morocco, which is part of the long-term work carried out by the Ministry of Culture in its fight against the illegal appropriation of Moroccan cultural heritage by Algeria, whether via UNESCO or the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, or through the establishment of the “Morocco” label as a national mechanism for the protection of intangible heritage.
