The Moroccan Department of Culture says it is committed to preserving its cultural and artistic heritage of one of its National dresses, Caftan, by promoting it internationally.
To this end the Department has concluded plans to add the Caftan to the list of the intangible cultural heritage of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Speaking at the which held on Friday in Rabbat, with theme theme “Art, Tradition, and know-how of the Caftan,” the Secretary General of the Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication, Abdelilah Afifi, said after the inclusion of the Caftan in the list of tangible and intangible heritage of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) in 2022, all stakeholders are now focused on continuing to preserve Morocco’s cultural heritage.
“The Department of Culture is committed and is collaborating with all stakeholders, to preserve the Caftan as a national and artistic heritage,” Afifi stressed.
“Studies have been conducted around the Caftan to highlight its cultural and social dimensions and its craft and artistic characteristics.”
“The skills and knowledge associated with this element have also been documented and recorded in audiovisual format to highlight its distinctive features and promote it internationally,” he said.
The director of the Museum Mohammed VI of Modern and Contemporary Art, Abdelaziz El Idrissi, who also spoke at the event, highlighted in a presentation the characteristics of regional Caftans of Morocco, including the Caftan of Fez, Tetouan, Rabat, Marrakech, and Oujda.
“It was in the 12th century and under the Almohad dynasty that the Caftan appeared in Morocco and that it was quite different from traditional clothing worn in the East,” he explained.