Training Workshop on the Techniques of the Art of Algerian Zellij at the Ahmed-Zabana Museum in Oran

A national training workshop on the manufacturing techniques of Algerian zellij began on Saturday at the Ahmed-Zabana National Public Museum in Oran, as part of Heritage Month (April 18 – May 18), held this year under the slogan: “Our Heritage, Our Civilization.”

The workshop, organized under the theme “A History of Clay and Color” by the Ahmed-Zabana Museum and the local tourism association “Generations of the Future,” brings together students from the Regional School of Fine Arts in Oran, former trainees educated at the Bir El-Djir Vocational Training Center, as well as decorative art enthusiasts wishing to enrich their knowledge in the art of ornamentation using zellij, considered a remarkable form of artistic mosaic.

It follows the National Symposium on Algerian Zellij organized by the Abdelmadjid-Meziane National Public Museum in Chlef, in partnership with the Directorate of Tourism and Handicrafts of that wilaya, the director of the Ahmed-Zabana Museum in Oran, Hichem Sekkal, told APS.

This two-day training meeting aims to promote this artistic craft, which is part of the intangible heritage elements whose use in Algeria dates back to the 11th century, Mr. Sekkal specified, recalling that “the file for Algerian zellij is currently submitted to UNESCO with a view to its inscription on the world cultural heritage list.”

The workshop also aims to highlight the artisans’ know-how in the use of zellij and to encourage them to continue this activity to ensure its sustainability, as well as to create workshops dedicated to Algerian zellij to preserve this heritage, according to the president of the tourism association “Generations of the Future,” Mokhtar Dabat.

During this workshop, supervised by the master artisan specializing in the decorative art of zellij, Medelci Sidi-Mohamed, originally from Tlemcen, two panels inspired by the zellij motifs used in the mosaics of the El-Mechouar Palace in Tlemcen and the Palace of Bey Mohamed El-Kebir in Oran will be created. The two artworks will then be preserved at the Ahmed-Zabana Museum, which already houses archaeological collections of zellij dating back to the medieval era.

For her part, Houria Boumediene, a teacher at the Ayad-Slimane Vocational Training Center in Bir El-Djir, emphasized that “this craft now arouses great interest among the youth, as well as among decorative art enthusiasts, who each year join the ‘Pottery-Decoration’ specialty offered by this training establishment.”

In parallel with this workshop, the museum’s hall hosted an exhibition highlighting remarkable ceramic pieces with varied geometric shapes, bearing witness to the talent of artist Ahmed Benbekrit, from Ain Temouchent, in designing ceramic works with carefully chosen and harmonized colors.