Morocco has officially protested to the sportswear brand Adidas, after the manufacture of a jersey “inspired by the art of zellige [mosaïque] Moroccan intended for the Algerian selection”, indicates Moroccan news site Hespress.
“Barely the photos of the new Algerian jersey published on the Twitter page of the brand with the three stripes, with the slogan ‘Inspired by culture and history. Designed for royalty’”, Rabat’s anger was heard.
A “cultural appropriation”
This anger resulted in a letter of formal notice sent by the lawyer for the Moroccan Ministry of Culture and Youth to the President and CEO of the Adidas group, Kasper Rorsted.
“The patterns used in this new design feature representations of Moroccan zellige art, which is a clear attempt at cultural appropriation through your brand,” can we read in the letter made public by the lawyer, which gives the brand fifteen days to withdraw the jersey.
In his letter, the Moroccan lawyer explains that what is presented as being “inspired” zellige from Tlemcen, Algeria, actually appeared for the first time in the Xe century in Morocco and was “seen for the first time at the madrasa Bou ‘Inania of Fez and the madrasa-zaouïa of Chellah”, sites inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The jersey was first unveiled on September 23. And “never has a Green jersey sold so well and so quickly”, explains for its part the Algerian news site TSA. “The Algerians believe that zellige belongs to the whole of the Maghreb and [que sa représentation] is in no way a form of ‘cultural appropriation’.”
“This is not the first time that Morocco has claimed parts of the heritage common to the whole of the Maghreb or downright Algerian, ranging from gastronomy such as couscous to musical genres and Berber jewelry from Ath Yenni, in Kabylia”, comment TSA.