About · An editorial line

Why Snaat Bladi.

There is a Morocco that lives in its hands. In the tanneries of Fès, in the wood workshops of Essaouira, in the carpet looms of the Middle Atlas, in the silver of Tiznit. Snaat Bladi takes that Morocco seriously — as one would take a literary work, a school of thought, a national heritage that deserves writing.

By the editorial team · Marrakech

The name صنعة بلادي means literally "the craft of my country." Snaat Bladi: the magazine, the platform, the editorial archive of Moroccan know-how.

1. The intention

For a century, Moroccan craft has been written about by anthropologists, by ethnologists, by tourist publications. It has been written about a great deal in French; less in Arabic; barely at all in the magazine register — the one that treats a tannery as one would a cathedral. Snaat Bladi exists to fill that gap.

Our line is editorial, not commercial. We do not sell. We document, we write, we illustrate. The objects we describe are made by hands you can find — and visit, often — in their workshops. Where it is useful, we direct the reader to those workshops. Otherwise, we simply tell the story.

2. The structure

The magazine is built on four pillars:

The Crafts (الصنائع) — sixteen living trades, from silversmithing to thuya marquetry. Each page is a monograph: history, gesture, materials, place, transmission.
Intangible Heritage — the sixteen Moroccan elements inscribed by UNESCO on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (2008–2025).
Regions — eight historical artisan strongholds (Fès, Marrakech, Essaouira, Tétouan, Tiznit, Meknès, Safi, Chefchaouen) treated as ateliers in their own right.
Seasons — the moussems and festivals that punctuate the artisan calendar from Yennayer in January to the FIFM in November.

3. Editorial standards

Each entry is checked against an official source — most often the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage register, the Maison de l'Artisan, the Registre National de l'Artisanat (RNA) created under Law 50-17 and Decree no. 2.21.991, or the relevant ministry. Where claims are contested, we note the controversy. Where sources contradict, we name them both.

We do not use generative imagery. The visuals you see on Snaat Bladi are either:

Original SVG illustrations by the editorial team;
Public-domain or licensed photographs, attributed in the source notes;
Placeholder visuals (clearly marked "à remplacer") awaiting field photography.

4. Publisher

Snaat Bladi is published by UBCG SARL, an independent UX research and digital strategy studio registered in Morocco. The same studio operates two complementary projects: MoroccoNaut, a Morocco-discovery application for travellers, and UXgile Academy, a certified training programme for user-experience professionals.

Editorial direction is held by Mouncif Ait Abdelghani — Ingénieur d'État, M.Sc., PhD — who can be reached at salam@snaatbladi.com. The full legal notice is available here.

5. Contribute

The magazine welcomes contributions from:

Anthropologists, historians, ethnologists with documented field knowledge of a specific craft, region, or tradition;
Photographers producing original images of Moroccan workshops (we credit, we don't pay yet);
Master artisans and their representatives who wish to have a workshop documented.

Write to salam@snaatbladi.com with a brief pitch and any prior work.