Culture

Morocco adds national dress, Caftan, to UNESCO’s list of Intangible Heritage

Published

1 year ago

February 5, 2023

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.

Related Topics:Caftan Culture Featured Heritage Morocco UNESCO

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Culture

Egypt reclaims 3,400-year-old stolen statue of King Ramses II

Published

12 hours ago

April 23, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Egypt has received a 3,400-year-old statue depicting the head of King Ramses II that was stolen and smuggled out of the country more than three millennia a ago, the country’s Antiquities Ministry said in a statement.

According to the Ministry, the statue was stolen from the Ramses II temple in the ancient city of Abydos in Southern Egypt more than three decades ago.

Head of Egypt’s Antiquities Repatriation Department, Shaaban Abdel Gawad, who received the artefact said though the exact date the artefact was stolen is not known, the piece is estimated to have been stolen in the late 1980s or early 1990s.

“The statue is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo but not on display. The artefact will be restored,” he said.

He stated that Egyptian authorities spotted the artefact when it was offered for sale in an exhibition in London in 2013 before it was moved to several other countries before reaching Switzerland.

“This head is part of a group of statues depicting King Ramses II seated alongside a number of Egyptian deities,” Abdel Gawad said.

King Ramses II is one of ancient Egypt’s most powerful Pharaohs. Also known as Ramses the Great, he was the third pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty of Egypt and ruled from 1279 to 1213 BC.

“Egypt collaborated with Swiss authorities to establish its rightful ownership and Switzerland handed over the statue to the Egyptian embassy in Bern last year, but it was only recently that Egypt brought the artefact home, he added.

Culture

Ghana mourns as top gospel music icon Koda passes away

Published

1 day ago

April 22, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

The Ghanaian entertainment industry has, once again, been thrown into mourning following the death of renowned gospel musician, Kofi Owusu Dua Anto, known professionally as Koda, who passed away on Sunday at the age of 46.

According to reports, the gospel music icon and producer died from a kidney-related condition he had been suffering from for sometime.

Koda, renowned for hit songs like “Hossana”, “Nkwaa Abodo”, “Nsem Pii” and “Adooso”, was also a producer of repute who gained fame for his inspiring compositions and his captivating, soul-stirring vocals that struck a chord with audiences nationwide.

A local media reports that he worked with a lot of Gospel musicians in Ghana and Nigeria including popular Nigerian gospel singer, Nathaniel Bassey.