Starting August 2022, this country bulletin series offers a curated cultural women-focused list for each country in the world. It will go through the countries in alphabetical order and take (approximately) eight years to complete. Subscribe to this newsletter to ensure you receive a country bulletin in your inbox every other Tuesday.
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Algeria
Continent: North Africa
Capital City: Algiers
Official language: Arabic; Amazigh
Algeria is the largest Arab country in the world and the biggest country in the African continent. This year (2022) Algeria celebrates its 60th year of independence from France.
A super quick (6-minute) history of Algeria. (Note: I don’t like that they don’t cover more of the French atrocities during the colonization era but it is still a good, basic introduction to a long history.)
Couscous is the national dish of Algeria and it is believed to have originated millennia ago, during the reign of Masinissa in the ancient kingdom of Numidia in present-day Algeria. In December 2020, Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia obtained official recognition for the knowledge, know-how and practices pertaining to the production and consumption of couscous on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. The joint submission by the four countries was hailed as an "example of international cooperation". There are gazillions of couscous recipes floating around the internet but I particularly like the look of this one - Algerian Couscous with Vegetables. While you are in the kitchen creating your own Algerian feast, try making some Algerian Date Filled Semolina Cookies.
The Algerian choice for our book club was Fantasia: An Algerian Cavalcade by Assia Djebar. In this novel (published in 1993), the history of Algeria is intertwined with the story of a young girl stretching from the French conquest in 1830 to the War of Liberation of the 1950s. This book is a fascinating insight into the deep (often troubled) history of Algeria and the social context in which women were raised. To be honest, I found it a lot to take in because it is *very* literary but I very much enjoyed pushing myself and reading something completely different.
Another book on my TBR is A Bookshop in Algiers by Kaouther Adimi. And, for more Algerian literature written by women, this list is fantastic.
Rai is a type of traditional folk signing, and it means the path of vision, goal, or plan. The Rai melody expresses pain, suffering, or joy and it originated from a rhythm called Reggada which is a form of dance in western Algeria and the eastern region of Morocco. Traditionally it was always men who sang Rai… but then Cheikha Rimitti came along.
Born in Tessala, a small village in western Algeria in 1923 and named Saadia, meaning joyful, she was orphaned as a child due to the violent French occupation and began to live rough, earning a few francs working in the fields and doing other manual jobs. At age 15, she joined a troupe of traditional Algerian musicians and learnt to sing and dance. Later she began writing her own songs that described the tough life endured by the Algerian poor, focusing on the everyday struggle of living, pleasures of sex, love, alcohol and friendship and the realities of war. These weren’t topics that women generally sung about so Rimitti became one of the first women to sing songs of lust in public. Over the course of her life her popularity grew and she is considered la mamie du Rai, the grandmother of Rai. Even though she composed more than 200 songs, she remained illiterate all her life. Listen to her fantastic deep singing voice here.If you are interested in learning more about the music of Algeria, I highly recommend the Algeria episode of Music Planet: Road Trip, a music podcast by BBC Radio 3.
And, this Algeria Sounds playlist curated by Spotify is such a vibe. I have had it on permanent rotation for the past couple of weeks.
Located in the southeast of Algeria, Tassili n’Ajjer National Park is home to one of the most important groupings of prehistoric cave art in the world, leading to its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Although sources vary considerably, the earliest pieces of art are presumed to be 12,000 years old. Among the 15,000 engravings so far identified, the subjects depicted are large wild animals including antelopes and crocodiles, cattle herds, and humans who engage in activities such as hunting and dancing. The property is also of great geological and aesthetic interest: the panorama of geological formations with "rock forests" of eroded sandstone resembles a strange lunar landscape.
Considered one of the most influential designers ever, Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent was born in Oran, Algeria in 1936. Throughout his decades long career, Yves Saint Laurent consistently drew inspiration from the country in which he was born and raised. Now there is a new generation of Algerian designers who are asserting Algerian fashion onto the global stage. In 2011, Nawel Nedjari began organizing Alger Fashion Week in Paris to promote Algerian design. Her dream is to one day host it in Algeria but currently the government are not in support, until then she will continue showing prominent Algerian designers in Paris.
Founded by French-Algerian designer Lilia Yasmin, Atal From Galbi is an ode to the home of the Arabic language, sprawling from North Africa to the Middle East. Every piece is produced in their atelier in Paris and is inspired by Algerian culture. This season’s collection is called “Reasonless” and can be shopped on their online store.
Algerian Wedding - a film by Salem Khaweldeh and produced by Al Jazeera is a fascinating look into the daily lives of individuals in western Algeria as you go behind the scenes at three different weddings. The documentary shows the beautiful culture and traditions that abound in Algeria and the elaborate weddings that take place. The hand-made outfits, the jewellery, the henna parties, the food - it is all exquisite. In fact, the chedda of Tlemcen is a traditional Algerian dress that is worn by brides for their wedding ceremony. In 2012, the traditional rites and craftsmanship of the wedding costume in Tlemcen were inscribed in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list.
Nadja Makhlouf is an Algerian photographer and filmmaker who centers her projects around the question of women. Her work specifically addresses key questions of the role of memory, history and social change in respect to the place of women in Algerian society. For example, her photographic exhibition titled ‘El Moudjahidate: Invisible to Visible
The Role and Memory of Women Anti-Colonial Resistance Fighters in Algeria’ explores the complex histories of the Algerian women who fought in the National Liberation Front (FLN) and Algerian Communist Party (PCA) during the Algerian War of Liberation 1954 – 1962. On the website you can read through the stories of 12 women who played a role in this war.
“Papicha” is a 2019 film by director Mounia Meddour. ‘Papicha’, which is Algerian slang for a “pretty, cool girl” tells the story of Nedjima (played to perfection by the award winning Lyna Khoudri), a college student and budding fashion designer in Algeria in the early 90’s, a dark time in the history of the country when Islamists and the government were at odds. Instances of killings of women who are not wearing the hijab are increasing and after a tragic event hitting close to home and perpetuated by an Islamist woman, Nedjima decides to put together a fashion show. Her plan is to only use the traditional veil — the “haik” - a simple, off-white silk/wool blend fabric measuring six meters by two to make all the outfits. This is a revolutionary act and a statement against the restrictions that are being placed on women.
I absolutely adored this movie. Nedjima is a strong, independent character who has a deep love for her native Algeria and her best friends and family. The subject matter is shocking and somewhat of an emotional rollercoaster but the film beautifully demonstrates how important clothing is to a woman’s identity as well as how hard women have to fight for their freedom and independence across the world. I rented it on Apple TV but it is also available across streaming platforms.
Very excited to learn that Meddour and Khoudri have worked on another film together - “Houria” - which also takes placed in Algeria and tells the story of strong-willed women. I believe it is set for release in 2023!
Baya Mahieddine (1931-1998) was an Algerian artist whose mainly created paintings, though she did pottery as well, all completely self-taught. Her artwork largely depicts vibrant and joyful communities of women living in a world without men with the bold colors and strange figures revealing surrealist and dream-like qualities. Picasso’s Women of Algeria series is said to be inspired by Mahyeddine. You can scroll through some more of her fabulous artwork here.
Thank you so much for reading the Algerian edition of the country series!
Please leave a comment of anything you have learnt from this newsletter and if you have any other Albanian recommendations or insights to add to the conversation! Follow along on Instagram for more @werenaissancewomen.
xxx