2024-07-31 04:08:51
In statements to MAP on the sidelines of a study day organized by the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture (IRCAM) under the theme “The Amazigh year (Id Yennayer): historical roots and festive practices”, these researchers stressed that this celebration illustrates the plurality of Moroccan identity and the richness of the cultural heritage of the Kingdom.
Thus, the director of the Center for Educational Research and Educational Programs at IRCAM, Abdeslam El Khalfi, affirmed that the celebration of the Amazigh New Year has an important historical aspect, since this tradition dates back several centuries in Morocco, and gives the full measure of the close and special relationship that binds the Amazighs to the land and agriculture.
For his part, the researcher at the Center for Historical and Environmental Studies, part of the Institute, Houssine Boudlib, highlighted the interest shown by the Moroccan community living abroad in the celebration of this day, welcoming the contribution of Moroccans around the world to the promotion of Amazigh culture in their host countries, “especially since this culture carries rich and diverse human values, linked to solidarity and equality.”
For her part, Sabah Allache, a researcher at the same center, stressed that “Moroccan women are considered the backbone of the celebration of the Amazigh agricultural year “Id Yanayer”, through the rituals and customs that they ensure to accomplish in such circumstances, such as the preparation of specific Moroccan traditional meals and dishes, noting that these customs and traditions constitute a precious identity legacy that Amazigh women have inherited from older generations, and that they are keen to preserve and protect, in order to pass it on to future generations.
The work of this study day was divided into two sessions, the first focusing on themes relating to the “historical roots of the Amazigh calendar”, “Id n Innayer: prelude to the study of the Amazigh calendar”, “the contribution of the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture to the modernization and institutionalization of the celebration of the Amazigh New Year”, and “cultural symbols and their importance in the preservation of identity”.
The participants in the second session focused on “the meanings and rituals of the Amazigh year”, “the presence of women in the celebration of the Amazigh year”, “rituals of celebration of Id n Innayer in the Zemmour area”, “aspects of celebration of the Amazigh new year in the oases of southern Morocco”, and “Moroccans of the world and the celebration of the Amazigh new year”.
2024-07-31 04:08:51