In the last few days, many Moroccans have expressed utmost indignation at FIFA’s “blatant cultural appropriation of Moroccan culture” in its World Cup draw ceremony.
During the latter, the federation decorated the stage with a massive door with typical Moroccan mosaic patterns.
Moroccans were quick to notice, and most of them took to social media to voice their outrage.
Yasmine, a visual artist going by the s0nzai username on Instagram, didn’t hesitate to draw parallels between FIFA’s door and the Royal Palace in Fez known as Dar El Mekhzen, noting the similarities in the designs.
“I find cultural theft super disrespectful […] because it’s a treasured, almost sacred shared identity,” she wrote.
Morocco, in the person of the Minister of Youth, Culture, and Communication Mehdi Bensaid and his team, has been making immense efforts to protect Moroccan culture from theft or external unauthorized use.
For this purpose, a project called “Morocco Label,” described as a means to “protect the Moroccan tangible and intangible heritage from illegal use, whether by other countries or companies,” according to the Minister’s social media pages, was created.
The aforementioned project, a source from the Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication told Hespress, will see the light of day in the third week of April, as long as the legal procedures on which it will be structured are available.
“Morocco Label” will include all of Morocco’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage elements, according to the same source.
It will not only be used as evidence of Morocco’s undeniable ownership of its culture, but also as a way to take the necessary legal measures in case of cultural theft or appropriation.
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