Algeria

Algeria spans the Mediterranean coast and the Sahara, blending Berber, Arab and Saharan traditions in its crafts and oral arts.

Music & dance Crafts Food & cooking Spirituality & rites Language & oral

Knowledge in this place

Imzad fiddle music

Imzad fiddle music

Tuareg women play the one-stringed imzad fiddle to accompany sung poetry.

Kabyle painted pottery

Kabyle painted pottery

Kabyle women hand-build unglazed pots and decorate them with geometric Berber motifs.

Couscous knowledge and rituals

Couscous knowledge and rituals

Rolling semolina by hand and steaming it shapes shared family and festive meals.

Sebeïba ritual

Sebeïba ritual

An annual Tuareg ritual in Djanet uses dance and song to commemorate ancestral peace.

Spirituality & rites

Tamazight language

Tamazight language

Berber Tamazight survives in dialects and the Tifinagh script across the highlands.

Language & oral