Snaat Bladi was born of a simple observation: there was, in the Moroccan editorial ecosystem, no measured, serious, regular and bilingual publication that took crafts as an object in themselves — and not as a by-product of tourism. Official sources produce technical reports, the economic press quotes figures, lifestyle magazines promote designers. What was missing was a place where one could, slowly, watch a gesture, listen to a maâlem, follow a material from the ground to the hand.
i. Mission
We document the sixteen great branches of Moroccan crafts and the sixteen elements inscribed by Morocco on UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage. We do it in three languages — French, Arabic, English — so that artisans, researchers, diaspora and travellers can access it. We are not a sales platform, nor a buying guide; we systematically refer to cooperatives and institutional craft collectives.
Three commitments structure the editorial work:
- Official sources first. Every institutional, historical or numerical statement is referenced to the primary source — UNESCO, Maison de l'Artisan, Ministry of Tourism, Official Bulletin, OMPIC, INHA, ENA.
- The maâlem as a source. Techniques are described from interviews conducted in the workshop, in Arabic or Darija, and not from manuals.
- No orientalism. We forbid ourselves a vocabulary that exoticises — "mysterious", "bewitching", "Oriental secret". We describe.
ii. Editorial line
Snaat Bladi distinguishes five formats. The craft sheets, exhaustive, present a branch (material, geography, history, technique, economy, institutions). The heritage sheets take up, element by element, Morocco's UNESCO inscriptions. The magazine publishes long reportages (3,000 to 5,000 words) and essays. The notebook gathers institutional briefs. The regional sheets, finally, map the eight great craft centres.
The editorial team publishes about eight articles a month across all sections. The calendar follows the seasons: a magazine issue in winter, a spring issue, a summer issue. The notebook briefs are published as they come.
iii. Method
Each article goes through four stages. Documentary research from the cited official sources and academic references. Field verification as far as possible — workshop visits, interviews with the maâlems, observation of techniques. Review by a peer familiar with the branch. Layout at the editorial team. Articles are dated, signed (when the author wishes to be) and updated if the institution publishes a revised figure.
We publish neither advertorial nor product placement. Outgoing links to cooperatives or craft collectives are free and engage no commercial partnership. Announcements of fairs, programmes or inscriptions are relayed as information of general interest, without compensation.
iv. Independence
Snaat Bladi is edited independently from Marrakech. The publication is funded by no ministry, no tourism agency, no company. The running costs (hosting, research, travel) are covered by the founders and, in time, by a voluntary subscription to the annual print version. Each year we publish a simplified account of our revenues and expenses on the Transparency page.
v. Direction
The editorial team is directed from Marrakech, in connection with a network of correspondents in Fès, Essaouira, Tétouan and Tiznit. We welcome outside contributions from journalists, anthropologists, designers and researchers working on Moroccan crafts. To submit a topic, write to salam@snaatbladi.com with a synopsis and a sample of your work.
vi. Reproduce, cite, translate
Snaat Bladi's texts are published under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence: they may be reproduced and adapted on condition that the source is cited, that no commercial use is made of them, and that derivative versions are shared under the same licence. Archive photographs belong to their respective rights-holders and are credited in the caption. For commercial uses, contact the editorial team.