UNESCO sites
Al Qal‘a of Beni Hammad (1980), remains of a fortified citadel from the Hammad era (11th century)
Djemila (1982), Roman ruins dating from the 1st/4th century
Casbah of Algiers (1992), historical centre of Algiers (medina) dating mainly from the Ottoman era (16th/17th century)
M’zab Valley (1982), a complex of five ancient fortified citadels (Pentapolis), of which Ghardaia is the main one, founded by Ibadite populations who settled there from the 11th century onwards following the Almoravid conquests.
Timgad (1982), an ancient Roman city founded under Trajan in the 2nd century.
Tipasa (1982), a Roman town founded by Emperor Claudius in the 1st century on an earlier Phoenician settlement.
Tassili N‘Ajjer (1982), a desert area important for its particular geology and for its 15,000 cave paintings and engravings, evidence of eras dating back 10,000 to 2,000 years.
Rock art
Human presence throughout the present-day Sahara Desert is evidenced by the discovery of stone artefacts dating back to the Palaeolithic and Neolithic periods, but also by a body of rock art, the most copious and valuable in the world, which tells us about the evolution of man, animal species and climate change over the millennia.
While today the most important corpus, in terms of quantity and quality, is made up of some 15,000 engravings and paintings preserved in the Tassili N‘Ajjer region, included in the UNESCO World Heritage list, the desert as a whole is a huge ‘prehistoric Sistine Chapel’.
From the oldest examples of engravings depicting mainly wild animals such as elephants or giraffes, dating from around 10,000/7,000 years ago, to the refined ochre paintings of the so-called bovid and ‘round head’ period (due to the deformed and almost extraterrestrial human figures), dating from around 8,000/4,000 years ago, and finally the more recent ones because of the small, highly stylised and simplified human and animal figures (about 3,000/1,500 years ago), the desert tells us about very ancient times, when man, at first a gatherer and hunter, became sedentary and a cultivator. It also tells us about the extinction of animal species that inhabited the green savannahs before the beginning of the desertification process. It tells us about ancient animist cults, cultivation and breeding techniques, and the appearance of the first forms of tifinagh writing (the written code, still used in a modern form in the Tamasheq language).
Rock art is an invaluable document about the origins of civilisation and its evolution, yet to be discovered and studied in depth.
Certainly one of the oldest and most refined examples of rock engraving is the famous “Vache qui pleure“, in Tagharghart not far from Djanet, dating back to around 8,000 years ago, when the rock underwent a particular oxidation due to a still humid climate and the stone was still porous, so much so that the figure could be traced with a wide and regular line, almost like a finger digging in butter. The greatest peculiarity of this engraving, which makes it unique in the world, is not only the skilful technique, but also the iconography. It depicts a group of cattle (the bubalus antiquus, a species that probably became extinct in the Sahara around 6,000 years ago) with a tear falling from their eyes. There have been many hypotheses, of which the most plausible remains that of a votive figure, in which the intention is to represent the animal‘s suffering due to the advancing drought and the process of desertification.
As for the thousands and thousands of cave paintings preserved in the Tadrart Rouge and Tassili, from all periods, the masterpieces par excellence date from the ‘round-headed‘ period and are preserved in the rock walls of Sefar, a troglodyte site on the Tassili N‘Ajjer plateau.
A unicum in size, technique and iconography is undoubtedly the representation of the so-called ‘God Sefar‘. Dating from around 7,000 to 6,000 years ago, these are most likely votive images, linked to ancestral beliefs and shamanic-animal rituals already widespread at the time. Anthropomorphic figures more similar to extraterrestrials, men with enormous round heads, processions and dances, were nothing more than the representation of healers or priests in the act of performing propitiatory rites in the presence of followers. In fact, it is now a general hypothesis that most of the rock art sites were sacred places.
Architecture
Through the stratification and the different architectural styles, it is possible to retrace the complex and very ancient history of Algeria, as well as to have an overview of the different cultures and civilisations that have followed and intertwined over the millennia and centuries.
While the oldest evidence of millenary civilisations is represented by rock art, the oldest architectural manifestations can be found in pre-Islamic funerary monuments (dolmens) and Berber mausoleums.
Megalithic necropolises are widespread throughout north-central Algeria and probably date back to pre-Roman times. They are real cemeteries made up of large stones arranged in a canopy, similar to those found in other Mediterranean regions such as Sardinia or Tunisia.
Among the nomads or semi-nomads of the desert regions, the cult of the dead also played a central role, and it is easy to come across pre-Islamic tombs formed of small boulders arranged in concentric spirals in the sands and stony ground of the south, some with an enormous radius, so large that they could be observed from a long distance.
The peoples who inhabited Algeria in pre-Roman times were predominantly nomadic or semi-nomadic Berbers, organised in camps of tents made of leather or fabric. It was not until the first Phoenician settlements and the first Numidian kingdoms that we saw more sedentary social organisations in the north and centre of Algeria and consequently the first evidence of complex architecture.
However, most of these have been completely supplanted by the complex urbanisations of the Roman period and the later Arab and Ottoman periods.
The layout of the city followed the typical urban layout of the Roman Empire, with its walls, entrance gates, forum, amphitheatre, Capitoline Temple, civil basilica, macellum and baths. The houses were organised around a peristyle, with colonnades and decorated with mosaics.
Among the most outstanding and best-preserved examples of Roman architecture to date are the ruins of Djemila, Tipasa, Cherchell, Timgad, Hippo, Sitifis, Tiddis, Tagaste and Thebes, many of which are on the UNESCO list.
Also worth mentioning is the Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania (also known as the Mausoleum of the Christian), an imposing funerary work dedicated to one of the Numidian kings who trained in Imperial Rome.
In terms of architecture of a later style and era, which best represents the Islamic-Berber culture, is the Beni Hammad Fort (UNESCO).
Built around the year 1000 by a Hammadid population migrating from the north following the Arab conquests and the Berber revolts, it is today the best preserved and the oldest. The tower, the mosque, the remains of three palaces with gardens probably adorned with fountains and a large swimming pool testify to the sophistication of the architecture of the Hammadid cities.
Ghardaia and the Pentapolis of the M’Zab Valley, not surprisingly also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, deserve a separate mention in Berber fortified architecture.
Founded between the 11th and 14th centuries by Ibadite peoples who migrated after the Arab conquests, it consists of five citadels designed with a very characteristic and elaborate defensive architecture, which inspired Le Corbusier for many of his creations.
The mosque is the heart of the city and its social life and is located at the top of the settlement, which descends in steps downwards and towards the market square, to the walls and the two fortified entrance gates. An intricate network of narrow alleys and porticoes wind their way between the houses, for practical purposes (against the heat, wind and cold) and for defensive purposes (it was difficult to attack the city from enemies on horseback). The minaret, occupying the highest part of the city, also served as a control tower.
All the buildings were originally constructed of stone, clay and palm wood cavities. The private dwellings were built around an inner courtyard and a skylight, where the family could find privacy and the necessary light.
The ancient city of Djanet to the south, on the other hand, follows the typical concept of the caravan ksour, a fortified oasis-village. In the middle of the desert, it is built on three rocky heights, both for defensive purposes and to avoid flooding in the wadis on the plains, which seasonally fill up with torrents. The village was organised to remain self-sufficient in case of attack or drought. The houses all had a granary and a pantry, as well as a water supply system within the walls in case of emergency. Today, unfortunately, most of the three ksour have been in ruins for almost fifty years. Built of clay and palm wood, they require constant maintenance and so the inhabitants have preferred to build modern houses further down the valley.
Among the architecture of the caravan oasis cities, Timimoun is also a particular example, especially for its very ancient and ingenious system of underground water channelling for the irrigation of the palm groves and supply (the foggara).
Algiers “The White” is certainly the most representative city in terms of architecture, due to its many faces, layers and architectural contaminations from various historical periods.
There are at least three main faces, each of which in turn can be traced back to different styles and historical moments.
The kasbah, the popular quarter of the medina occupying the highest part of the city, dates back to the first period of secular Ottoman domination (with successive stratifications and interventions) and was conceived on pre-existing Punic and Berber settlements. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is unique in the panorama of Islamic-Ottoman civil architecture. Enclosed within fortified stone walls, it winds its way through a dense network of alleyways and stairways, characteristic views, whitewashed houses leaning against each other in a load-bearing balance to form countless porticoes. It is perhaps one of the most unjustly neglected and decadent historical centres in the whole of the Maghreb, but one that still retains all its charm and “barbarian” atmosphere.
The great monuments and oriental, Moorish-style mosques in the central urban area are the most refined and characteristic examples of the Algiers Regency, the highest expression of the magnificence of the great families of pashas and days who ruled Algeria for more than three centuries. The grandeur of these palaces, their sumptuous ornamentation with Moorish echoes, is immediately apparent and contrasts with the blinding white of the working-class neighbourhood of the casbah, as well as acting as a caesura between it and the 19th-century French neighbourhood.
The mosques of Ali Bitchin (1623), Djama‘a al-Djedid (1660) and the oldest Djamaâ el Kebir, dating from the Almoravid era, are worth mentioning.
The French Quarter, which stretches across the corniche of the bay in the lower part, is a contamination of Parisian Belle Époque styles and Mediterranean colours and atmospheres. Wide boulevards follow the theory of metropolitan palaces and arcades, with their characteristic wrought-iron railings and Art Nouveau decorations.
Belonging to the French “Eiffelian” era, the spectacular iron bridge in Constantine is worth mentioning.
Traditional art
Certainly in the panorama of traditional arts and crafts, weaving and embroidery (tarz) in Algeria occupy a predominant place in all regions.
The art of carpet making is common to the entire Berber tradition and in Algeria the finest examples are certainly those of the M’zab Valley, Kabylia or Timimoun.
Ghardaia carpets, with their cheerful colours and typically Berber geometric patterns on a dark background, are by definition the first Algerian souvenir to be purchased, but behind their craftsmanship lies a genuine art and age-old savoir faire, handed down from generation to generation.
Terracotta and jewellery in Kabylia are another characteristic aspect of artistic creation of Berber origin. The regions of Lower Kabylia and Greater Kabylia are renowned for the quality of their clay. This has led to the development over the centuries of a strongly rooted tradition of ceramics and terracotta artefacts. With their bright vermilion colours and geometric patterns, utensils such as plates, bowls, vases, tajines and ashtrays will undoubtedly attract visitors with their fine workmanship and good taste.
Also in Kabylia, among the Beni Yenni tribe, the art of jewellery-making dates back to the 15th century and is perhaps the finest in the entire Berber tradition. Cabile jewellery is unmistakable. A riot of decorations, colours and elaborate shapes, also applied to wooden objects or everyday utensils, which are then ennobled and elevated to the status of precious jewellery. Typical are the beautiful silver sets that accompany the bride’s dowry and wedding trousseau, with inserts of Mediterranean coral, gems and enamels in symbolic colours: the green of nature, the yellow of the sun, the blue of the sky.
In the desert regions, the art of leather-working has existed for thousands of years. Since ancient times, camel or goat skin and wool has been skilfully processed to make not only everyday objects such as shoes, saddlebags, saddles and belts, but also jewellery, ornaments, storage boxes and, today, souvenirs. Famous are the colourful babouches of the Gourara region, or the leather handicrafts of Tlemcem of Arab-Berber and Andalusian inspiration. Touaregs are undoubtedly masters of leatherwork and have their savoir faire in the ancient nomadic caravan tradition. Tent ornaments, cushions, mats, fringed vestments for dromedaries, jewellery, lucky charms and caskets. The imagination of the Tuareg ranges over a multitude of coloured leather objects, among the most characteristic of the entire Sahara. The Tuareg people are also masters of silver work. Tuareg jewellery is beautiful, finely embossed or worked in filigree. Necklaces, pendants, bracelets, rings, decorations and applications on everyday objects such as trunks or chests, recall natural elements in their symbolic and geometric motifs, with refined simplicity and purity of form.
Copperwork and glassblowing are very old arts dating back to the Ottoman domination. Although Algiers has lost its tradition due to the industrial process, skilled craftsmen who pass on their secrets from father to son can still be found in Constantine and Tlemcem. Plates, trays, teapots and lanterns made of copper and coloured glass, and blown-glass glasses are still made by hand according to an artisanal method that dates back to the Middle Ages.
As for graphic arts and painting, as in all strongly Islamised cultures subject to iconoclasm, there has never been a great tradition in Algeria and contemporary painting only timidly began to find its place in the 20th century, apart from a 19th century painting movement under French domination, during which, however, mainly French painters who had settled in Algeria, the so-called ‘Orientalists‘, were active.
In the field of graphic arts, however, arabesque and calligraphic art is the only iconographic form tolerated by Islam, and was therefore the only one to spread in Algeria over the centuries. Even today, a large part of Algerian artistic expression is linked to ornamental and decorative paintings with floral, geometric and arabesque motifs, therefore abstract, which had their roots in miniaturist or calligraphic art.
It was not until the 20th century that the first school of contemporary Algerian painters appeared, overcoming the impositions of Koranic law, although some of them remained inspired by calligraphic art. Today, there are numerous contemporary art galleries in Algiers exhibiting works by landscape painters, abstract artists, portrait painters, sculptors and photographers. These include the brothers Omar and Mohamed Racim, Abdallah Benanteur, Mohammed Khadda and the group of symbolist painters called Aouchem. In the 1990s, the civil war painters Djeffal Adlane, Zoubir-Hellal and Mammeri are worth mentioning. One of the greatest Algerian women painters was Baya, who was much admired by Breton and Picasso and who devoted herself to painting suspended between naïf, symbolism and cubism from the 1950s onwards.
Cinemas
It is only since the war of Liberation and the proclamation of Independence from France in the 1960s that one can begin to speak of a true indigenous Algerian cinema. Before then, film production was in colonial hands and highly politicised, tending to exalt aspects of French colonialism and relegating Algeria to a simple exotic setting for overseas adventures and characters.
The first film productions focusing on contemporary news events and linked to the dramatic events of the Liberation War, however, were initially co-productions by foreign directors, albeit close to the intellectual elite of the National Liberation Front. One example is Gillo Pontecorvo’s famous film La Battaglia di Algeri (1966).
But already in 1967, an Algerian director, Mohammed Lakhdar Hamina, was awarded a prize for the first time at Cannes with his film The Wind of the Aurés, which was to win the Palme d’Or again in 1975 with Chronicle of the Burning Years. This marked the beginning of the first season of the Algerian film industry, eager for redemption from colonialism and the cultural supremacy of France. These were all films denouncing the abuses suffered by the Algerian people during the colonial era.
In the 1970s, a movement of young film-makers promoted a dijdid (new) cinema that pressed to tackle social issues linked to internal problems and that refused pure celebration or denunciation of the past, focusing instead on analysing real Algerian society, now freed from colonialism and war. The Oran International Arab Film Festival was born in 1976. Prominent examples from this decade are The Coal Miner by Mohamed Bouamari, Noua by Abdelaziz Tolbi, The South Wind by Slim Riad and Omar Gatlato, Merzak Allouache’s first film.
Mohamed Chouikh’s Al-Kalaa, a masterpiece of the 1980s, harshly and more incisively depicts and denounces the condition of women in contemporary Algerian society than in the previous decade.
The 1990s, following the civil war, saw the exodus of most Algerian intellectuals and artists, including filmmakers, to the point that in the 2000s, the need was felt to breathe new life into the industry. Thus began a very prolific twenty-year period with excellent results. Many films from the early 2000s focus on the loss of identity following the Algerian exodus in the 1990s and often deal with the reunification of families by immigrants in France who return to their homeland and have to deal with social realities and pressures that are now alien to them. La Fille de Keltoum (2002) by Mehdi Charef, Delice Paloma (2007) by Nadir Mokneche, Bab el Web (2005) by Merzak Allouache, La Chine est encore loin (2010) by Malek Bensmaïl, Timelife (2019) by Hamid Benamra, are just a few titles.
Literature
While the earliest forms of writing in Algeria are very old and can be traced back to wall art in the desert, with examples of the Typhinagh codex of Libyan-Berber origin dating from around the 5th century BC, or Punic inscriptions on the Mediterranean coast, the beginnings of literature date back to Roman and later Arab domination.
The greatest writers in Latin of African origin under Roman rule were the philosopher Apuleius, the Christian apologist Tertullian and the theologian St Augustine of Hippo.
From the 7th century, Algeria became a land of Arab and Islamic domination. Manuscript texts in Arabic and treatises began to circulate among Muslim scholars who moved between the main theological universities of the Maghreb. However, it is not only Koranic texts that circulate, but also treatises on literature and science and a variety of other disciplines.
Algeria contributed to classical Arabic literature over the centuries with the mystical verses and maxims of Abū Madyan (1126-1197), the poems of at-Tilimsānī (1216-1291) and the literary biographies of Aḥmad al-Gubrīnī (1246-1314).
Within the Berber-speaking peoples who maintained their cultural identity under Arab and Ottoman domination, history, poetry and popular song continued to circulate and be passed on thanks to the oral tradition of the meddah (storytellers).
The meddahs continued to sing until the conquest by France. Jean Amrouche (1906-1962) collected elements of the Algerian tradition in Cendres in 1934 and published the Chansons berbères de Kabylie in 1939.
The most complete and significant anthology in the Berber language was not published until 1966, with the publication of traditional poems and stories from Kabylia, The Magic Grain by Marguerite Taos Amrouche.
However, a new literature in relation to tradition first developed among European literati, especially through the Algiers School, with writers such as Albert Camus, Emmanuel Roblès, Gabriel Audisio and Jean Pelegri; but their production is not recognised as Algerian by current critics.
A true contemporary Algerian literature emerged around 1950, expressing itself almost exclusively in French and in the form of the novel. It testifies to the resistance, the enthusiasm for a new society, but also to the unease created by the coexistence of two cultures (the Arab-Berber and the French). The debut of this new indigenous literature was undoubtedly Le fils du pauvre (1950), an autobiographical novel by a modest teacher from Kabylia, Mouloud Feraoun. One of the greatest writers of the first Algerian literary season was undoubtedly Kateb Yacine, a complex and original novelist who was also a playwright and poet.
Starting in the 1970s and 1980s, the thrust of Islamic fundamentalism began to influence even literary production and to oppose writers considered non-aligned. This phenomenon will culminate in the 1990s with real threats and the death penalty, to the point that the literature of this period can be considered ‘state’ literature, aimed at celebrating the past and classical Arab culture, in mainly socio-political essays or with a documentary slant, such as Le thé au Harem d‘Archi Ahmed (1983) by Mehdi Charef.
Among the non-aligned writers was the poet and novelist Tahar Djaout (1954-1993) who expressed all his political fervour and protest against authoritarianism in his writings. His novels L‘exproprié (1981), L‘invention du désert (1987), Les vigiles (1991) and the creation of the newspaper Ruptures cost him his life. He was assassinated in 1993.
Therefore, many writers left their homeland to find freedom of expression in France. One example is the writer (ex-police officer) M. Moulessehoul, known internationally under the pseudonym Yasmina Khadra, (among her many novels translated into all languages, L‘attentarice of 2006).
Alongside social protest and the fight against fundamentalism, there is also a very productive strand of feminist literature. Algerian women writers have established themselves as the spokeswomen of the most daring, innovative and independent protest movements.
Leïla Sebbar, who has lived in France for many years and was one of the first to give a voice to the world of women in exile in Fatima ou les algériennes au square (1981), devoted herself to the condition of immigrant women. Khalida Messaoudi, who defied the death threats hanging over her, denounced in Une Algérienne debout (1995) the attacks on Algerian freedom perpetrated by Islamic fundamentalists and by the government itself.
Music
Algerian traditional music has its roots in the mists of time and under multiple and complex influences, just as complex and multifaceted as its culture in general. Suffice it to say that the oral tradition through which the history of the Berber or Berber-derived peoples was passed on was often entrusted to song.
But it was around the 13th century that Algerian classical music was born, within the Arab-Andalusian culture. The origins are to be found in the storytellers and poets from the courts of the East, who arrived in Andalusia in the 8th century and brought Persian and Greek influences to the Moorish courts of Spain and later to the Maghreb.
With orchestras made up of lutes (oud), flutes (nay), percussion instruments (tbiblat, tar and derbouka) and citare or small two-stringed violas, they began to compose music of Arab-Andalusian influence, which has remained alive over the centuries and has reached contemporary Algerian popular culture.
Hawzi music was born in Tlemcem under the cultural influence of Granada, çanaa and chaabi music (with influences of Moroccan gnaoua and Berber music) in Algiers and draws inspiration from Cordoba, or maalouf songs in Constantine, originating in Seville.
However, each region also had its own indigenous influences and traditions, not necessarily of Arab-Andalusian inspiration.
Bedouin music appeared in the Oran region in the 19th century and originates from rural melodic songs, accompanied by traditional instruments such as the galal drum or the gasba flute. Mestfa Ben Brahim or Cheikh Hamada were among its main performers.
Its evolution in modern times is to be found in the rai music that appeared in the 20th century, accompanying melodic, more complex and philosophical folk songs about existence. Among the greatest internationally known rai artists are Cheb Mami and Khaled (the author of the very famous song Aicha).
With regard to music linked to regional Berber folklore, chaoui (Berber from the Aurés regions) and Kabyle music are perhaps the most varied, with multiple styles and influences depending on the area, right up to contaminations of pop, rock and blues in the creations of the latest generations of contemporary artists.
In the regions of southern Algeria, the music has inevitably been influenced not only by Arabic, Berber or traditional Bedouin music, but above all by the culture of the griots and the animism of sub-Saharan Africa.
In Sahraui, Gnaoua or Touareg music, according to ancient styles and arrangements of traditional musical instruments, the themes dealt with are love, the desert, nature, religion and the epic deeds of the peoples, according to the thousand-year-old oral tradition and hypnotic rhythms.
Khalifi Ahmed is one of the leading artists in contemporary Sahrawi music and his very poetic lyrics are accompanied by flutes. The ahallil genre focuses on hypnotic religious songs still in use in the Timimoun (Grouara) region.
Gnaoua music, which is also, and above all, widespread in Morocco and Tunisia, still preserves its thousand-year-old tradition and is celebrated at an International Gnaoua Music Festival in Essaouira. These songs and instrumental rhythms are highly hypnotic and were used in the past, but still today, for therapeutic purposes by traditional doctors and seers during their rituals, which were reminiscent of shamanic trance practices and which today represent the most mystical aspect of the Muslim religion (diwane).
When talking about Touareg music, it is very reductive to locate it in geopolitical boundaries. The Touareg people have been claiming their identity and unity for centuries, and their music is also an expression of this identity unity. It is probably the most poetic artistic expression of the entire African musical landscape (Libya, Niger, Mali, Algeria, Burkina Faso), inseparable from the poetry and stories of the oral tradition. In Algeria, the regions of Tamanrasset and Djanet are the epicentre of this culture and it is here that the most talented Touareg musicians were born.
In contemporary culture, it is generally agreed that the roots of the blues lie in desert music. It is indeed comparable to a ‘desert blues‘, the slow, singing rhythm of Touareg music, which celebrates the moods linked to contemplation of nature and boundless spaces, of wind and sand, admiration and respect for women, love and the heroic deeds of a people of proud warriors.
Among the most internationally famous Tuareg artists of Algerian origin, we should mention the great Bali Othmani (and his son Nabil, currently very active in France).