Morocco and Algerian are arguing with UNESCO over who owns Rai art
Art has long united human beings and built bridges between peoples. But ‘Rai‘ art has recently turned into a pawn in the intractable diplomatic tensions between Algeria and Morocco.
Instant when Algeria made an official request to include ‘Rai, a folk music genre, on the UNESCO Intangible Heritage List, it actually annoyed its rival across the border, Morocco.
Indeed, Rai is the popular music genre originated among marginalized groups in the west of Morocco and the northwestern Algerian port city of Oran, a location that helped fuse the Berber, Andalusian, African and Arab traditions that make up Rai music.
The argument though is who “owns” this North African folk music that has its roots in the frustrated outpourings of society’s marginalized sections and has expanded to express the angst of shifting, migrating generations.
According to Sky News Arabia, the cultural spat over ‘Rai’ between the two Arabian neighboring nations has been stewing for a while and threatens to boil over to couscous cousin.
Throughout the course of Raï music’s development and commercialization in Algeria, there have been many attempts to stifle the genre. From lyrical content to the album cover images, Raï has been controversial music.
In 1994, veteran Algerian singer Cheb Hasni – “the nightingale of rai” – was assassinated by militant Salafists outside his parents’ Oran home.
On this basis, Raï music is often contested and censored in many cultural contexts.
It’s worth noting that Morocco and Algeria have been embroiled in multiple conflicts since their independence more than fifty years ago.
In 2020, the United Nations added couscous to its intangible cultural heritage list in a symbolic, but minor, a diplomatic breakthrough for archrivals Morocco and Algeria.