2024-07-21 11:40:42
Initiated by the Al-Muniya Association of Marrakech for the conservation and revival of Morocco’s heritage, as part of the event “Marrakech, Capital of Culture in the Islamic World in 2024”, the Zahria of Marrakech consecrates the Ochre City as a high place of the distillation of the white flower for all the countries of the Maghreb.
“Taqtar Zhar”, which represents the ceremony linked to the distillation of orange blossom to celebrate the advent of spring, aims to preserve a cultural memory anchored in history.
The opening ceremony of this cultural and heritage event was marked by the organization of an initiation workshop to this ancestral tradition.
Led by Malika Abbadi, a former teacher of Life and Earth Sciences (SVT), with expertise in this authentic Moroccan heritage, this workshop was intended for the practical presentation of the ancestral Moroccan method of distilling orange blossom.
In a statement to MAP on this occasion, the president of the Al-Muniya Association of Marrakech, Jaâfar Kansoussi, indicated that the distillation of orange blossom, whose techniques have been passed down from mother to daughter for generations, is done around March 21, in private homes, but also, increasingly often, within cooperatives, associations and cultural places such as museums.
And to continue that the Al-Muniya association of Marrakech has succeeded in transforming this family and private ceremony into a major public, cultural and festive event, which contributes to the influence of the Ochre City, paying tribute at the same time to the women who have maintained and perpetuated this centuries-old tradition.
Placed under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, the Zahria of Marrakech, which returns for the twelfth consecutive year, has become a major cultural event which interests academics, researchers, pharmacists, perfumers and traders in general.
Organized in partnership with the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication, the Council of the Marrakech-Safi Region, the municipality of Marrakech, as well as with several institutional and private actors, this 12th edition, which continues until March 26, includes the organization of several “majliss” (ceremonies) to celebrate the distillation of orange blossom in several cultural places with strong symbolism, in addition to shows and introductory courses in the distillation of orange blossom.
For this 12th edition, the Al Muniya Association, initiator of the Zahria of Marrakech, in partnership with the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication, aims to protect the event, by proposing to register this annual meeting on the list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity with UNESCO.
As a reminder, the Zahria of Marrakech has already been registered, since 2022, with the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) as cultural heritage of the Islamic world.
2024-07-21 11:40:42