From its cradle in western Algeria to the biggest performance stages in the world, Raï, an Algerian popular song deeply rooted in the culture of its society, has entered the prestigious representative list of the humanity intangible cultural heritage of UNESCO.
The UN organization thus consecrates, during the 17th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, a performing art carried by an oral tradition and social practices which evolved from its rural Algerian cradle, to conquer cultural scenes in many countries around the world.
In the argument presented to the experts and representatives of the member countries, Raï is presented as a popular song from Algeria which “breathes and transmits a strong mark of expression of identity of the society which gave it birth and recognition”.
Known in its current form since the 1970s, Raï had introduced instruments such as the electric guitar, the trumpet, the accordion, the synthesizer during this period, which gave different nuances to the genre, without distorting its “nature “.
